Bury The Alleluia

Easter is finally here, and with it, the resurrection of Our Lord, and the end of Lent!

It was a long, hard Lent.

My fasting brought out deeply-rooted ugliness in me that drove me to Jesus in earnest, desperate ways.

I learned to press into prayer in a deeper way.

I got to practice saying “My desires are great, Lord, but my desire for you is greater! Help me walk this out! I can’t do it alone!”

A lot was buried, this Lent.

Friends. Beloved children. Family members.

Empty desires. Fruitless choices.

Appropriately enough, 46 days ago, we also buried an alleluia.

What do I mean?

At the beginning of Lent, I created a homemade coloring page by outlining some Easter themed designs on thick paper. We folded it up, tucked it into a ziploc bag, and nestled it into the soil. All along, the plan was to unearth it on Easter Sunday, and color or paint it together!

46 days ago, I had no idea what was in store for the coming weeks. But I knew things would change. And I knew I’d need Jesus to see me through.

That He has!

If you’ve never heard of “burying the alleluia” I’ve included an excerpt from Sacred Seasons as a launching point for your learning!

“One Epiphanic (Epiphany) tradition designed to prepare our hearts for Lent is the burying of the alleluia. Since the fifth century, it has been the tradition to eliminate the joyful "alleluia from the worship service during Lent. It is not sung or said.

In the Middle Ages, it became customary to literally bury the alleluia- that is, to place it in a tomb" that it may be "resurrected" at Easter….It is a great activity to help your children mark the shift from one season to another.”

What kid doesn’t want to dig a hole in their backyard and bury treasure?! My daughter asked me nearly every one of the 46 days of Lent this year when we could finally dig it up! This to me made the exercise meaningful. At three years old, she got a taste for what it’s like to wait patiently for something eagerly anticipated! It was a small lesson in delayed gratification, and helped her feel the passage of Lent. It did the same for me. I am looking forward to adding some color to this page together, and displaying it for the entirety of Eastertide!