Chapter 15: When the Alleluia should be said
From the holy feast of Easter until Pentecost the Alleluia must always be said in the psalms and the responsories. From Pentecost until the beginning of Lent it is said only with the last six psalms in the night office. On every Sunday outside Lent, however, the Alleluia is included in Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext and None, but at Vespers an antiphon is intoned instead. The Alleluia is never added to the responsories except from Easter to Pentecost. (Ch. 15 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Benedict finds many opportunities to include Alleluia throughout all the non-Lenten times of the year. Alleluia, for me, is a prayer that turns me towards joy. So, like the mantra, it opens my being.
Negativity rules the news media these days. Bad news sells! A recent Best Seller entitled “A Complaint-Free World” advocates a personal antidote: becoming aware of how many times each day I complain or gossip or make a negative comment about anything or anybody. The book issues a 90-day challenge: try to go a full day without complaining once. Try to repeat this feat for as many days in a row as you can. I found it hard to go the one day, let alone 90! Yet twice-daily meditation makes positivity and heartfelt Alleluias possible no matter the circumstances.
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