Did you ever notice that our service music (those little bits we sing that aren’t hymns or anthems) changes during the year? Ever wonder why? Well, one particular musical slot, the Call to Prayer, is completely at the whim of the choir director. Sometimes it might coincide with the season or a particular phrase from the service. But most times, I admit, it is the result of answering the question, “Hmm, what haven’t we sung in a few weeks?”
But one liturgical change-up has a very deep-rooted, historic purpose. During Lent we abandon the stunning bit of hymnody that forms our usual doxology. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Laßt uns erfreuen just will not do during these forty days. In the Catholic tradition, in fact, this piece would be strictly forbidden. The reason? Its inclusion of the Alleluia as its coda.
“Alleluia” (literally “Praise Yahweh!” in Hebrew) is the most joyful of hymns that can be sung, and it is preminiscent of the angels rejoicing around the throne of God at the end of days. It causes us to shout for joy that, through worship, the church is a microcosm of that heavenly chorus. But during Lent, we want to force ourselves to focus more on “thy kingdom come” rather than the post-Resurrection world in which we place ourselves all the other Sundays of the year. And this is the traditional reason that we instead sing Louis Bourgeois’ much simpler doxology (with no Alleluia coda) during Lent.
Although we periodically break this tradition here at Edwards Church, when we bust out our Alleluias on Easter Sunday you now will know why that’s such a special demonstration of our Christianity.
Rick Seaholm