Farewell to Alleluia

We are mourning exiles who long to be in the heavenly Jerusalem, here referred to as "joyful mother." During Lent, the Church refrains from songs of "alleluia"

Alleluia, song of gladness, Voice of joy that cannot die;

Alleluia, is the anthem Ever raised by choirs on high'

In the house of God abiding Thus they sing eternally.

Alleluia, thou resoundest, True Jerusalem and free

Alleluia, joyful mother, All thy children sing with thee,

But by Babylon's sad waters Mourning exiles now are we.

Alleluia cannot always, Be our song while here below;

Alleluia, our transgressions, Make us for a while forgo;

For the solemn time is coming When our tears fore sin must flow.

Therefore in our hymns we pray Thee, Grant us, blessed Trinity,

At the last to keep thine Easter With Thy faithful saints on high;

There to Thee forever singing Alleluia joyfully. 

Sources:

Alleluia, Song of Gladness - Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House

Woodcut by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, a nineteenth-century German artist known especially for his book Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden (‘The Book of Books in Pictures’), ©WELS.ime in the Word Transfiguration