St. John's Liturgy-Explanatory Note

ince some melodies of the communion hymns are brief, it may be necessary to chant something else in addition until the priest is ready to give communion to the faithful. Instead of repeating the same hymn to bide time, the choir may chant other psalmic verses or a slow alleluia.[+] The following chart shows where the music for slow alleluias may be found in this book in various modes. Click on the page number to jump to that page.


		Pages
First Mode	See end of slow communion hymns for Sunday and Monday or slow Alleluia at the end of this section.	416, 433, 489
Third Mode	See slow Alleluia in plagal fourth mode at the end of this section.	492
Fourth Mode	See end of slow communion hymn for Wednesday or slow Alleluia at the end of this section.	444, 491
Plagal First Mode	See end of slow communion hymns for Friday and Saturday.	456, 461
Grave Mode	See end of slow communion hymn for Tuesday.	439
Plagal Fourth Mode	See slow Alleluia at the end of this section.	461

[+] Appending a long, elaborate alleluia to the brief psalmic verse of the communion hymn was a practice prevalent in the pre-Koukouzelian era. However, the more ancient practice (which encouraged congregational participation) was to chant a complete psalm with brief, pendant alleluias after each verse. (Vid. Conomos, Dimitri, The Late Byzantine and Slavonic Communion Cycle: Liturgy and Music, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., 1985, pp. 59-61.)