The depositio (discontinuance) of the Alleluia on the eve of Septuagesima assumed in mediæval times a solemn and emotional note of saying farewell to the beloved song. Despite the fact that Pope Alexander II [in the eleventh century] had ordered a very simple and sombre way of "deposing" the Alleluia, a variety of farewell customs prevailed in many countries up to the sixteenth century. They were inspired by the sentiment that Bishop William Duranti (1296) voiced in his commentaries on the Divine Office: "We part from the Alleluia as from a beloved friend, whom we embrace many times and kiss on the mouth, head and hand, before we leave him" [a reference to the Rationale divinorum Officiorum of William DURAND, or DURANDUS, Bishop of Mende, 1230-96].
The liturgical office on the eve of Septuagesima was performed in many churches with special solemnity, and alleluias were freely inserted in the sacred text, even to the number of twenty-eight final alleluias in the church of Auxerre in France. This custom also inspired some tender poems that were sung or recited during Vespers in honour of the sacred word. The best-known of these hymns is Allelúia, dulce carmen ("Alleluia, Song of Gladness"), composed by an unknown author of the tenth century [...]
In some French churches the custom developed in ancient times of allowing the congregation to take part in the celebration of a quasi-liturgical farewell ceremony. The clergy abstained from any role in this popular service. Choirboys officiated in their stead at what was called "Burial of the Alleluia" performed the Saturday afternoon before Septuagesima Sunday. We find a description of it in the fifteenth-century statute book of the church of Toul:
"On Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday all choir boys gather in the sacristy during the prayer of the None, to prepare for the burial of the Alleluia. After the last Benedicámus (i.e., at the end of the service) they march in procession with crosses, tapers, holy water and censers; and they carry a coffin, as in a funeral. Thus they proceed through the aisle, moaning and mourning, until they reach the cloister. There they bury the coffin; they sprinkle it with holy water and incense it; whereupon they return to the sacristy by the same way."
In Paris, a straw figure bearing in golden letters the inscription "Alleluia" was carried out of the choir at the end of the service, and burned in the churchyard [...]
Thus the Alleluia is sung for the last time, and not heard again until it suddenly bursts into glory during the Mass of the Easter Vigil, when the celebrant intones this sacred word after the Epistle, repeating it three times as a jubilant herald of the Resurrection of Christ.
Father Franz Xaver WEISER SJ
Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs (Harcourt, 1958)
Below is the text of Allelúia, dulce carmen followed by its English translation:
ALLELUIA, DULCE CARMEN, vox perénnis gáudii;
Allelúia laus suávis est choris cæléstibus,
quam canunt, Dei manéntes in domo, per sæcula.
Allelúia, læta mater, cóncinis, Jerúsalem;
Allelúia, vox tuórum cívium gaudéntium;
éxsules nos flere cogunt Babylónis flúmina.
Allelúia non merémur nunc perénne psállere;
Allelúia nos reátus cogit intermíttere;
tempus instat quo perácta lugeámus crímina.
Unde laudándo precámur te, beáta Trínitas,
ut tuum nobis vidére Pascha des in æthere,
quo tibi læti canámus Allelúia pérpetim. Amen.
ALLELUIA, SWEET SONG, expression of endless joy;
Alleluia is the pleasant praise of the heavenly choirs,
which they sing, in God's house abiding, for ever.
Alleluia thou intonest, glad mother Jerusalem;
Alleluia, the expression of thy rejoicing citizens;
Babylon's streams make us outcasts weep.
Now we do not deserve to chant Alleluia endlessly;
blameworthiness makes us leave off Alleluia;
the season looms when we must lament the misdeeds we have done.
Wherefore while praising we pray thee, blessed Trinity,
that thou grant us to see thy Pasch on high,
where we may sing Alleluia everlastingly to thee. Amen.
The liturgical office on the eve of Septuagesima was performed in many churches with special solemnity, and alleluias were freely inserted in the sacred text, even to the number of twenty-eight final alleluias in the church of Auxerre in France. This custom also inspired some tender poems that were sung or recited during Vespers in honour of the sacred word. The best-known of these hymns is Allelúia, dulce carmen ("Alleluia, Song of Gladness"), composed by an unknown author of the tenth century [...]
In some French churches the custom developed in ancient times of allowing the congregation to take part in the celebration of a quasi-liturgical farewell ceremony. The clergy abstained from any role in this popular service. Choirboys officiated in their stead at what was called "Burial of the Alleluia" performed the Saturday afternoon before Septuagesima Sunday. We find a description of it in the fifteenth-century statute book of the church of Toul:
"On Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday all choir boys gather in the sacristy during the prayer of the None, to prepare for the burial of the Alleluia. After the last Benedicámus (i.e., at the end of the service) they march in procession with crosses, tapers, holy water and censers; and they carry a coffin, as in a funeral. Thus they proceed through the aisle, moaning and mourning, until they reach the cloister. There they bury the coffin; they sprinkle it with holy water and incense it; whereupon they return to the sacristy by the same way."
In Paris, a straw figure bearing in golden letters the inscription "Alleluia" was carried out of the choir at the end of the service, and burned in the churchyard [...]
Thus the Alleluia is sung for the last time, and not heard again until it suddenly bursts into glory during the Mass of the Easter Vigil, when the celebrant intones this sacred word after the Epistle, repeating it three times as a jubilant herald of the Resurrection of Christ.
Father Franz Xaver WEISER SJ
Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs (Harcourt, 1958)
Below is the text of Allelúia, dulce carmen followed by its English translation:
ALLELUIA, DULCE CARMEN, vox perénnis gáudii;
Allelúia laus suávis est choris cæléstibus,
quam canunt, Dei manéntes in domo, per sæcula.
Allelúia, læta mater, cóncinis, Jerúsalem;
Allelúia, vox tuórum cívium gaudéntium;
éxsules nos flere cogunt Babylónis flúmina.
Allelúia non merémur nunc perénne psállere;
Allelúia nos reátus cogit intermíttere;
tempus instat quo perácta lugeámus crímina.
Unde laudándo precámur te, beáta Trínitas,
ut tuum nobis vidére Pascha des in æthere,
quo tibi læti canámus Allelúia pérpetim. Amen.
ALLELUIA, SWEET SONG, expression of endless joy;
Alleluia is the pleasant praise of the heavenly choirs,
which they sing, in God's house abiding, for ever.
Alleluia thou intonest, glad mother Jerusalem;
Alleluia, the expression of thy rejoicing citizens;
Babylon's streams make us outcasts weep.
Now we do not deserve to chant Alleluia endlessly;
blameworthiness makes us leave off Alleluia;
the season looms when we must lament the misdeeds we have done.
Wherefore while praising we pray thee, blessed Trinity,
that thou grant us to see thy Pasch on high,
where we may sing Alleluia everlastingly to thee. Amen.
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