HALLELUIAH (Ileb. Praise ye the Lord), one of the forms of doxology used in the ancient church, derived front the Old Testament, and retained, even in the Greek and Latin liturgies, in the original Hebrew. The singing of the doxology in this form dates front the very earliest times; but considerable diversity has prevailed in different churches and at different periods as to the time of using it. In general it may be said that, being in its own nature a canticle of gladness and triumph, it was not used in the penitential seasons, nor in services set apart for occasions of sorrow or humiliation. In the time of St. Augustine, the African church used the halleluiah only from the feast of Easter to that of Pentecost. In other churches, it was found in most of the services throughout the year, with the exception of the seasons of Lent and Advent and the vigils of the principal festivals. In the Roman Catholic church, the halleluiah is intro
duced both into the mass and into the several hours of the public office, but it is dis continued front Septuagesima Sunday until Easter; and on the contrary, during the interval between Easter and Peutecost, it is introduced more frequently into the services and in circumstances of greater solemnity. It is always omitted in the services for the dead, and on the ember days, at• the quarter tense, and on the principal vigils. In the church of England, the first prayer-book of Edward VI. retained the halleluiah in the original Hebrew. In the present prayer-hook, although retained, it is found not in the Hebrew, but in its English equivalent, Praise ye the Lord. See Binterim's Denkwardig keiten der Christ-Kathol. Kirehe.