Tell me about Tenebrae

[Scarlet]

I read in the thread asking “which masses do you attend during holy week” a message someone wrote about tenebrae. It sounded really nice. I’ve never been to a parish that held a tenebrae service before but when I moved to my new diocese and parish there will be a tenebrae service on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

I was just wondering what I could expect since this is a pretty “modern” type of parish. Is there a certain way that tenebrae is celebrated at all Catholic parishes? Or is this another thing that is subjected to a wide lattitude of “interpretation or experimentation”. I’m kind of thrilled that our parish actually has one but also a bit apprehensive of the unknown.

In Christ,
Scarlet

 

[mercygate]

Tenebrae was never a “one size fits all” event. It was chiefly celebrated in monasteries and took many local forms. The basic form begins with the “hearse” – a stand holding 15 (or 24 or 72 . . . ) candles – fully lit and with the receitation of Psalms and other readings, one by one the candles are extinguished. For my money it’s a bit theatrical. But who knows? I am sure many over the centuries have found it to be an asset to the devotions of Holy Week.

newadvent.org/cathen/14506a.htm
newadvent.org/cathen/07162c.htm

 

[rcn]

The parish I currently attend has a Tenebrae service - the first parish I’ve ever encountered which does. I went last year, and the format was similar to what you describe. A lot of singing, and yes “theatrical” is a good description. It was very poorly attended, and when it ended most of us looked around wondering “is it over?” as there was no program handed out. No “thank you for coming”, no “this concludes our service”, nothing.

I was talking to a choir member recently, she was lamenting the poor attendance. I told her my experience. Based on that discussion, I was hoping to see a paragraph or two in the bulletin explaining it in advance, but this never happened. This seems to be a problem in our parish, it’s just sort of assumed that everyone knows what all the events are. But we live in an area with a lot of turnover and newcomers, so I’m sure most people don’t know what’s going on… even if they want to.

 

[Faustina]

My diocese has celebrated Tenebrae for about 15 years. I have never been to a service, but hope to attend tonight.