Alleluia--Praise the Lord! Oh! what a victorious word that is! This is the song of praise sung by the victorious citizens of paradise. Alleluia is not a sound found on earth; it is a hymn of paradise. To sing it one needs to be despoiled of one's old self and clothed with the new self, who is Jesus Christ, that is adorned with the holy virtues, for the acquiring of which our great and victorious Captain Jesus Christ paved the way. To him we sing Alleluia forever. (From a letter of St. Paul of the Cross to Nicolina Pecorini Martinez, April 21, 1726)
