Alleluia, song of sweetness

Alleluia, song of sweetness. Latin, 11th century or earlier, translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866). This is Neale’s translation of ‘Alleluya, dulce carmen’*, the hymn used in various rites to mark the pre-season of Lent, normally sung before Septuagesima Sunday, the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It was printed in Neale’s Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851), with a preface: The Latin Church, as is well known, forbade, as a general rule, the use of Alleluya in Septuagesima. Hence, in more than one ritual, its frequent repetition on the Saturday before Septuagesima, as if by way of farewell to its employment. It had four stanzas. It was...

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