Tenebrae at St. Peter Parish

The Office of Tenebræ has been celebrated during Holy Week in the Catholic Church since the eighth century, as an important devotion of the faithful.  Tenebræ is the Latin word for “shadow” and “darkness.”  Its simple but dramatic ceremonial draws the faithful into the darkness of the Passion of Our Lord, preparing them for the light of the Resurrection.  The form of the Office of Tenebræ is taken from the celebration of the Liturgy of Hours, the official prayer of the Catholic Church.  Tenebræ joins two separate components of the Divine Office, Matins (prayed at midnight) and Lauds (the morning prayer of the Church) in to one service celebrated the evening before, as an anticipated office.  It is fitting then that Tenebræ be celebrated the evening of Wednesday of Holy Week as the anticipated office for Holy Thursday.  Matins is composed of three separate sections called nocturns.  Each nocturn contains specific psalm texts, antiphons, and readings.  The first nocturn prescribes the reading of Lamentations, which is an anguished response to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. after a long siege by the invading Babylonian army.  The Lamentations in the first chapter portrays Jerusalem as an abandoned widow exposed to endless dangers and were most likely used by the survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem as a communal expression of grief and mourning.  The second nocturn of Matins features the writings of St. Augustine on the Psalms, and the third nocturn includes the writings of St. Paul to the Corinthians.    Light and darkness are incorporated into the service of Tenebræ, to portray the reality recalled within the prayer.  A prescribed number of candles are lit on the triangular candelabra, called the hearse, its shape symbolizing the Holy Trinity.  Also, a prescribed number of candles are lit on the altar.  During the service, the candles of the hearse, except for the topmost candle, are successively extinguished at the conclusion of each psalm in Matins, likewise, the candles on the altar are extinguished during the last six verses of the Benedictus which includes the Canticle of Zechariah, taken from the Gospel of Luke.   The gradual extinguishing of candles, leaving only one candle burning by the end, is rich in symbolism.  While the church finds itself in darkness, the single candle, the light of the one who willingly sacrificed himself for the life of the world, remains and is seen as the light in darkness.  Hope is restored for God’s faithful.  The darkness of the world cannot overcome the light of Christ.   The Christ candle is hidden during the final silent prayer of the Our Father, recitation of the Miserere (Psalm 51), and the Collect.  Then the strepitus, Latin for “noise,” is made by slightly striking the pew or a book, symbolizing the convulsion of nature at the Crucifixion of Jesus.  The strepitus ceases as the Christ candle appears and is placed on the altar, symbolizing the Resurrection of our Lord.   All depart in silence.