Hallelujah! This word is pronounced by many people without even thinking about its meaning. Indeed, what does hallelujah mean? So they say when they want to emphasize gratitude to God for a safe way out of the current problem, whether it be a crisis or illness, problems in the family or at work.
Praise God in Bible Psalms
Starting and ending the service in the temple, the clergyman sings a solemn song and says: “Hallelujah!” And what is it? This word came from the Aramaic language and remained untranslated, as well as "Amen", which means "so be it." He does not have a literal translation , but the meaning can be understood by reading the Psalms, where praise to God is used more than 24 times. Almost every Psalm begins with this word, and it ends with it.
According to Hebrew interpretation, this word can be divided into two: “hallelujah” and “I”. The first will mean praise, and the second will be Yahweh (God). Now it becomes clear what “hallelujah” means. This is the cry of “give praise to God”: “give praise to God in songs, give praise to God with your life, give praise to God with thanks, give praise to God in obedience.”
The magnificent exclamation has many translations. This and “Praise the Lord”, “Be blessed, Lord”, “Great is our God”, “Thanks be to God” and many others.
Hallelujah in Orthodoxy
To understand what “hallelujah” is in Orthodoxy, it is enough to attend the service in the church. At the mention of the Holy Trinity, the priest says “Hallelujah!” Three times, praising and glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Particularly significant Liturgies accompanying the Small passage, reading the Gospel, Communion, can not be imagined without the magnificent "Hallelujah." When emphasis is placed on what service is dedicated to, they say “Praise be to God.”
The all-night vigil is repeatedly interrupted by praise. The inexhaustible power of the word “hallelujah” gives hope to the righteous to get into the New Heaven and New Earth, to get into the Eternal Kingdom. It, like a golden thread, passes through all of Scripture, through all prayers and praises to God, as a confirmation of faith in the greatness of the Triune God.
The last book of the Bible “Revelation” also praises God through the Apostle John, who was taken to heaven and heard a voice saying: “Hallelujah! The Lord God is the King Almighty! ”
Many scholars believe that God himself commanded that two words, “hallelujah” and “amen”, be left untranslated to emphasize their divinity, so that people more often think about what this means.
"Hallelujah" as a reason for the split of the church in the 15-17th centuries
Until the 15th century, they sang in the Orthodox Church, but did not think about what Hallelujah was. The meaning of the word remained mysterious. The sobor letter sent by the Pskov clergy was sent to the Metropolitan. The reason for the argument was to sing “Hallelujah!” Once or thrice. The year 1454 was a turning point when Efrosin Pskovsky went to the great Constantinople in order to get an answer to the question of what “hallelujah” is and how many times it needs to be sung. Rev. Efrosin claimed that he received the answer from the Virgin herself, and that one should sing only, that is, once.
In 1551, during the Stoglavy Cathedral , the singing of the double “Hallelujah” was introduced. In the 17th century, Greek churches already sang the triple or trident "Hallelujah." Not wanting to lag behind the Greek church, the innovation was picked up by the Russian patriarch Nikon.
1656 was the year of the appearance of Old Believers in Russia who did not accept Nikon's innovations. They considered the halley "Hallelujah" and the baptism of three fingers heresy. After the Great Moscow Cathedral, held in 1666, the pure Hallelujah was finally banned.
Prayer and praise be to God
The daily prayer of the believer should also begin and end with praise to God, then a person in repentance thanks him for the gift of faith, for the promise of the forgiveness of sins. “Hallelujah” in prayer means that God is always with us, He leads us through life, and we are grateful to Him. Every believer must understand what “hallelujah” means.
This word is a hymn of love, faith, hope. They sing it when they thank God for the promise of eternal life. You can find joy even in death, for the promise of resurrection from the dead gives the joy of meeting Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit in Heaven.
Hallelujah of love - praise of eternal love on earth
What is the "hallelujah of love"? A song with this name became a hymn of love more than 30 years ago, when the rock opera "Juno and Avos" was first performed. At that time, the time of the pro-communist Soviet Union, any mention of God was punishable, it was forbidden to baptize children, it was forbidden to go to temples openly, and the appearance of a scandalous rock opera blew the minds of ordinary people.
The opera Juno and Avos was written on the basis of real events, but is shrouded in the grandeur of the temple chant, emphasizing that real love is under the cover of the Mother of God herself. And for 30 years now, the undying hymn "Hallelujah of Love" has been heard.
The real story of eternal love
"Juno" and "Avos" - the name of the two sailboats on which the handsome nobleman Nikolai Ryazanov sailed, the favorite of Catherine the Great herself. From the age of 14, having devoted his life to a military career, the stately military did not come to court and, as a result of intrigue, was sent to the Irkutsk region, where he married, according to the calculation, to the rich Anna Shelikhova. However, this marriage was not blessed by Heaven, the count's wife dies young, Ryazanov is sent to Japan. Then he gets to Petropavlovsk, and from there goes to California, where he buys the Juno and Avos vessels for their money.
Here, the heart of the warriors is conquered by the 15-year-old daughter of commandant Conchitt. Love breaks out between them, but a real obstacle arises: Ryazanov was Orthodox, Conchitta was Catholic. The count goes to Russia to get permission for marriage, but dies on the way.
Tender Conchitta remained true to her first love, every morning she went to a stone cape, looked at the ocean and waited for her betrothed, and when she found out about his death, she went to the monastery, where she spent 50 long years. Here's a story that gave birth to the rock song Hallelujah of Love.