Catholic Life Ministries , Archive » As you begin Lent, Remember to “Bury the Alleluia”

As you begin Lent, Remember to “Bury the Alleluia”

Posted March 7th, 2025 by CLMrf and filed in View from the pew

By Robert Fontana

During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross. We walk with the Messiah who had to suffer for our sake and our salvation; and we join in his work of redemptive suffering. We do penance and acts of self-denial, which train us to bear suffering for the love of God. And if we are going through a time of actual suffering because of difficult life circumstances, such as illness or confronting real evil and injustice in society, we carry the cross of that suffering because it too can become life-giving and redemptive through Christ.

Let us especially carry in our hearts the suffering people in the Ukraine, the suffering people in Gaza and Israel, the suffering people escaping violence and migrating for a safer life, the suffering people who live on our streets, the suffering people in difficult marriages and unhealthy relationships, the suffering women and couples and their unborn child in a crisis pregnancy, and…(you add your list).

Such a somber and serious season needs a party, one last “hurrah,” to help us enter into it properly. Thus in Catholic countries all over the world the season of “Carnival” and “Mardi Gras” is celebrated before Lent. A very appropriate way to bring closure to Carnival and Ordinary Time and transition into the penitential season of Lent is literally to bury the word “Alleluia.” That word, usually sung before the reading of the Gospels at Mass, is not sung during Lent. It will not be heard again until the Easter vigil when the Church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, who is God’s “Alleluia” to the world.

So, sometime this weekend, gather with your family and friends to transition into the Lenten season and bury the “Alleluia” using the following prayer service, or something similar.

Bury the Alleluia in Preparation for Lent – A prayer service to help you and your family, prayer group, office, and/or parish prepare for Lent. You can do this any day during the week of Ash Wednesday to the first Sunday in Lent.

Materials: Take a legal size sheet of paper and, using a marker, write in large print “Alleluia.” Have other markers of different colors available. You will also need a shovel.

Leader Lent is upon us. It is the time we remember when God’s “Alleluia,” Jesus, took away the sins of the world through his death on the cross.