Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 19, 2009

Chapter 15: At What Times "Alleluia" Is to Be Said
Feb. 18 - June 19 - Oct. 19


From holy Easter until Pentecost without interruption
let "Alleluia" be said
both in the Psalms and in the responsories.
From Pentecost to the beginning of Lent
let it be said every night
with the last six Psalms of the Night Office only.
On every Sunday, however, outside of Lent,
the canticles, the Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext and None
shall be said with "Alleluia,"
but Vespers with antiphons.


The responsories are never to be said with "Alleluia"
except from Easter to Pentecost.

Some thoughts:

When I first ran into this practice of saying "alleluia" at some times in church and not saying it in others, I could not understand what possible good could come from failing to say it. Over the years though, I've learned more. My initial reactions are not the most informed ones nor are they the ones upon which I should base my opinions. That's one thing I've learned from the omission of "alleluia" at some points in the church year.

There is another, more important thing I learned and that is how the observation of the Church Year is formative. The habits and practices of the observation of each season of the church year are themselves formative. When I started this section of the RB for the umptiumph time I prayed, "Oh. Lord, what is there to be said about this rather boring stuff? All this minutiae of which psalms when etc." The answer was rather painfully obvious... in addition to accommodations for the changes in the seasons, making sure the monks get enough sleep, Benedict has set up a system of formation through the use of the Psalms, etc.

Anything that is a change will make us more aware of what was changed. Hopefully, it leads us to ask why there was a change. Hopefully we learn something from the change.

Any thoughts you would like to share?

Reading 02/18/08

February 18, June 19, October 19
Chapter 15: At What Times "Alleluia" Is to Be Said

From holy Easter until Pentecost without interruption
let "Alleluia" be said
both in the Psalms and in the responsories.
From Pentecost to the beginning of Lent
let it be said every night
with the last six Psalms of the Night Office only.
On every Sunday, however, outside of Lent,
the canticles, the Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext and None
shall be said with "Alleluia,"
but Vespers with antiphons.

The responsories are never to be said with "Alleluia"
except from Easter to Pentecost.

Some thoughts

Maybe I said this the last time we read this bit but, honestly, can we say "Alleluia" too often? Granted, Benedict is taking about its use in liturgical prayer.

The Hebrew word "Halleluya" as an expression of praise to God was preserved, untranslated, by the early Christians as a superlative expression of thanksgiving, joy, and triumph.

Do we give thanks to God often enough? Do we express back to Him the joy he has given us as His beloved sons and daughters upon whom His favor rests? Do we shout in triumph often enough that despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune which all too often come our way, we know He is with us through it all, sharing everything we share? Do we embrace that golden moment when we discover that our deepest sorrow can be transfigured into joy because we find His face looking back up at us from the bottom of the abyss?

Reading for Feb 18, June 19, Oct 19

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 18, June 19, October 19
Chapter 15: At What Times "Alleluia" Is to Be Said

From holy Easter until Pentecost without interruption
let "Alleluia" be said
both in the Psalms and in the responsories.
From Pentecost to the beginning of Lent
let it be said every night
with the last six Psalms of the Night Office only.
On every Sunday, however, outside of Lent,
the canticles, the Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext and None
shall be said with "Alleluia,"
but Vespers with antiphons.

The responsories are never to be said with "Alleluia"
except from Easter to Pentecost.

Why do we say "Alleluia"? What is its purpose? Do we know what the word means? I looked it up in the Merriam -Webster online dictionary. Alleluia means "praise you".

Insight for the Ages: A Commentary by Sr Joan Chittister
http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html

The Navahos wrote,"We felt like talking to the ground, we loved it so." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "The earth laughs in flowers." Benedict of Nursia wrote, say "alleluia" always, no matter the time of day, no matter the season of life.

The use of the alleluia dates back to the earliest of liturgical formularies, both Jewish and Christian, as an endless, chant of joy. In the Christian community it was an expression of praise and a foretaste of eternal gladness. "We are an Easter people," Augustine wrote, "and Alleluia is our cry."

Benedict of Nursia did not originate the use of the alleluia but one thing he did do was to extend its use to every day of the year except Lent.

The prescription is a telling one. To the Benedictine mind, life in all its long nights and weary days is something to be praised, death is the rivet of joy, there is no end to the positive. Even life in hot fields and drab offices and small houses is somehow one long happy thought when God is its center, and blessings, however rare, however scant, are blessed.