April 15, 2025 // Perspective

Alleluia at Easter and Beyond

Father Mark Hellinger

In a night that is full of moving words and actions – indeed, even packed with the sacraments themselves – one moment from the Easter Vigil always stands out to me as worthy of reflection for our post-Easter celebrations.

In the cathedral of each diocese, after the epistle is read, a deacon approaches the bishop and says, “Most Reverend Father, I bring you a message of great joy, the message of Alleluia.” In response, the bishop (assisted by a deacon or concelebrant) sings three times, “Alleluia,” each time raising the key higher while the people reply.

Moreover, in the churches of the world, the Easter Vigil is the only night in which the missal instructs the priest himself (assisted if needed) to sing the Alleluia in the same manner (it is actually the only time which the priest is instructed to intone it at all).

Thus, on the night of Easter, the bishops and priests of the world are to announce in a solemn manner, inspired by the Holy Spirit (thus the singing and increasing key), the joy of knowing the Resurrection. And in this moment, which in honesty can get passed over because of its quickness, we see a beautiful ecclesiology and are given a clear mission post-Easter.

The missal is so insistent on the bishop and priest singing this Alleluia in part because of the role of apostolic succession in the proclamation of the Resurrection. As John says in the beginning of his first letter: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Thus, every year as the Church renews the celebration of the events of our salvation, it is the apostles and their successors, in unity with their helpers (those of presbyteral rank), who are the first to proclaim the joy proper to the Resurrection. It is a joy that is beyond words, but a joy which the Church has long employed Alleluia to express – like a small child still learning to speak. In this little moment, the bishop and his priests proclaim essentially the same thing as John: We have known the Resurrection, through eyewitnesses who have told us, we again tell you: Jesus Christ is Risen from the Dead. Alleluia!

Thus, the ministerial priests of the Church fulfill what Lumen Gentium calls a “principal duty” for bishops (and therefore also priests): the preaching of the Gospel. The most basic fact of the Gospel message is the Resurrection. Without it, our faith would be in vain. This is what has been proclaimed – or rather, exclaimed – in the singing of the Alleluia.

The question then that lingers is: How do we respond? In the liturgical setting, we sing it back – we are given the message three times, and three times proclaim it as a response. Do our lives reflect that? The power of the Lenten season is to prepare a place for the Lord at Easter. Have we? And if we have – even a small place in our heart is a victory of grace – do we let the Alleluia echo in our lives and hearts beyond Easter Sunday?

The task for each one of us is precisely that. Having been renewed by celebrations of Easter, having heard the whole of salvation history proclaimed and fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we now are set a task of making it the fundamental truth about our lives.

How will our words and actions in the coming days, months, and years reflect a deeper conversion to relation with the Trinity? And how will my whole life echo the message that has been handed on to me through the centuries: the message of Alleluia.

Father Mark Hellinger is parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Wayne.