Alleluia Alejandro Consolacion Pdf -

Father Miguel had not said the word Alleluia in forty years. Not since the night the soldiers came to the chapel in the mountain and took the painted wooden Christ down with ropes. That night, the word died in his throat like a swallowed bone.

“She was my daughter,” Alejandro whispered. “I buried her on a Tuesday. I have not spoken since.” alleluia alejandro consolacion pdf

But now, in the hospice room where the air smelled of camphor and old paper, a whisper pulled it back out. Father Miguel had not said the word Alleluia in forty years

Alejandro turned his head on the pillow. “That is not consolation,” he said. “That is surrender.” “She was my daughter,” Alejandro whispered

Father Miguel returned to his abandoned chapel the next Sunday. He stood before the empty altar where the wooden Christ had once hung. The congregation was gone. The roof leaked. But he opened his mouth, and for the first time in forty years, he sang:

The voice was dry as ash. It belonged to Alejandro, the man in Bed 7, the one the nurses called El Mudo — the mute. Except he was not mute. He had simply chosen, for thirty years, not to speak.

Alejandro finished the measure. He closed his eyes.