Tenebræ

For the first time since the Plague Year, our parish of Saint Patrick in Tacoma will celebrate a Tenebræ service. You are most welcome to join us on the Wednesday of Holy Week (16 April) at 7pm.

What is Tenebræ?

The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours, being a concatenation of Matins and Lauds, anticipated the night before.

In addition to the psalms, traditionally chanted, we hear readings from the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, from Saint Augustine, and from the Letter to the Hebrews.

The Church has celebrated chanted Tenebræ since medieval times. It is a prolonged meditation on Christ’s suffering, and the haunting power of the chant in the darkness suggests the drama of this momentous moment. It is a very somber service, designed to place you at the time of Christ’s Passion.

As we chant the psalms, one by one the candles and lights in the church are extinguished, until we are nearly in darkness.

And then, in darkness we whisper the Lord’s Prayer and hear the beautiful anthem Christus Factus Est.

A great noise is heard – the strepitus – representing the closing of the Lord’s tomb.

A single candle representing the Lord is returned to the altar, and we leave in silence by its light.

It is, as I said, a somber service, but a truly moving one.

Please join us if you can.