Matins, originally celebrated a few hours after midnight, and lauds, ori… One of the many beautiful liturgies of Holy Week, which does not always receive much notice, is the liturgical service called Tenebrae. Especially included in the Readings is the Book of Lamentations. After each reading, a pupil should come forward and extinguish one candle.
It is designed to focus attention and create calm. I understand that. Please feel free to adapt and rewrite according to your school's needs. Tenebrae is the name given to the service of Matins and Lauds belonging to the last three days of Holy Week. In the Roman rite of the Catholic Church Tenebrae was celebrated in all churches with a sufficient number of clergy until the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XIIin the 1950s. Tenebrae (meaning 'darkness' or 'shadows') is the morning prayer of the church on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. It is also an idea to have all the lights on at the start of Tenebrae and then to put some off as each candle is extinguished until there are no lights on when the seventh candle is hidden.By tradition, the seventh candle (representing Christ, light of the world) is not extinguished but is solemnly taken from its place and hidden (usually behind the altar). It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. The pope restored the Easter Vigil to Saturday night, regularized Good Friday services to the afternoon and evening hours and elevated the Lord’s Supper celebration on Holy Thursday. They’re looking for something they can hang onto.”Organist Gordon Mansell has been helping keep alive the music of the late Msgr. It’s drama at the highest level.”The Tenebrae tradition lives on in concert halls and on CDs with settings by renaissance composers Carlo Gesualdo and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The 'strepitus' signifies the confusion and terror which accompanies the death of Christ and his burial. Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy (FOTA I, 2008) The Genius of the Roman Rite: Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives on Catholic Liturgy (CIEL 2006) The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: 2000 CIEL Proceedings; Theological and Historical Aspects of the Roman Missal: 1999 CIEL Proceedings The final candle, representing Christ, is then hidden from view, leaving the church in darkness.The bang of a book closing or feet stamping was in medieval times a signal to the congregation that they could leave. In the Roman Catholic Church, "Tenebrae" is the name given to the celebration, with special ceremonies, of matins and lauds, the first two hours of the Divine Office of each of the last three days of Holy Week. This service, as the “Caeremoniale episcoporum” expressly directs, is to be anticipated and it should be sung shortly after Compline “about the twenty-first hour”, i.e. A custom that developed for the liturgy of Tenebrae was the 'strepitus' - this was a loud noise made as the seventh candle was removed and hidden created by banging books on pews and sounding rattles and untuned percussion instruments.
It is intended to provide a good lead into the homily or reflection which, it is suggested, reflects on the person of Jesus on the cross and our reactions to that. “Because it’s an important legacy that the choir school has to give at a time of the year that this Tenebrae is appropriate.”Whatever the Roman Missal says, the choir school and its alumni have continued presenting Ronan’s music for Holy Week year after year ever since Ronan himself was their choir director (he died in 1962).“He (Ronan) had, certainly, a dramatic flare,” said Mansell. Celebrations called Tenebrae today may be of quite different content and structure, based for example on the Tenebrae liturgical celebrations of this kind now exist in the The celebration of matins and lauds of these days on the previous evening in the form referred to as Tenebrae in churches with a sufficient number of clergy was universal in the The structure is the same for all three days. They think it’s stuffy,” he said. The Church in Toronto has a Lenten treasure that ends not with a whimper but a bang.After the last light in the church is extinguished during the Holy Week service of Tenebrae, while the congregation is left to reflect in darkness on the death of their Saviour, the choir will quietly take hold of hymnals, then in unison slap them hard against the back of the pew in front of them. It is performed,” said Mansell.
Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy (FOTA I, 2008) The Genius of the Roman Rite: Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives on Catholic Liturgy (CIEL 2006) The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: 2000 CIEL Proceedings; Theological and Historical Aspects of the Roman Missal: 1999 CIEL Proceedings “When you think about this whole Tenebrae, it’s drama.
The traditions regarding this service go back at least to the ninth century. Those Anglican churches that celebrate the Tenebrae service do so on Spy Wednesday, thereby preserving the importance of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday observances. Donate Please consider donating to Tenebrae … In churches where the Mass of the Chrism is celebrated, however, matins may be anticipated the evening before." This adaptation of the Liturgy of Tenebrae works well in schools and has an impact on pupils. This needs to be given some thought so it is done in a dignified and dramatic way (using a snuffer rather than blowing it out perhaps).
The Tenebrae is a striking liturgy, one could almost say quite unlike any other liturgy you will see during the rest of the liturgical year. If you use this liturgy of Tenebrae, please do let us know how you got on, what you adapted, and, if possible, share any rewrites or ideas you used. In an age of thumping hymns set over organ accompaniments as regular as marching tunes, or folk-inspired liturgical music, the Ronan Tenebrae is a …