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CatholicLife
Guest
What happens during a Tenebrae service? I’ve read about it but it’s still hard to understand.What day is it held on Spy Wednesday or Good Friday?
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bpbasilphx
Guest
Tenebrae was originally the Matins and Lauds of Thursday through Saturday of Holy Week.
Instead of doing it around midnight, as in Monasteries, it was anticipated overnight in parishes–Wedneday through Friday.
As each Psalm and Canticle of the offices was chanted, another candle was extinguished, hence the name of the service–Tenebrae: Darkness.
Revised Holy Week services and times promulgated in the 1950’s, especially moving the Mass of the Lord’s Supper to the evening of Holy Thursdy, and the directive to recite the Office at the proper corresponding clock time, rather than anticipating them the evening before, led to Tenebrae disappearing from parish worship.
What is hard to understand about it?
Instead of doing it around midnight, as in Monasteries, it was anticipated overnight in parishes–Wedneday through Friday.
As each Psalm and Canticle of the offices was chanted, another candle was extinguished, hence the name of the service–Tenebrae: Darkness.
Revised Holy Week services and times promulgated in the 1950’s, especially moving the Mass of the Lord’s Supper to the evening of Holy Thursdy, and the directive to recite the Office at the proper corresponding clock time, rather than anticipating them the evening before, led to Tenebrae disappearing from parish worship.
What is hard to understand about it?
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LindaSK
Guest
As a former Lutheran, I attended Tenebrae services every Good Friday. I have never found anything equivalent to it in the Catholic Church. Perhaps this will help…
lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=3909
*Strepitus
Q. We attended the Good Friday service tonight and in the program there was a Latin phrase “The Strepitus.” Can you tell me the translation of this? Also at the end of the service the pastor “closed the book” (slammed shut). What is the significance and meaning of this part of the service?
A. The “strepitus” (pronounced STREP-ee-toose) means “loud noise” and is signified by the slamming of a book or door toward the conclusion of the Good Friday Tenebrae Service (“Service of Darkness”). The “loud noise” symbolizes the earth shaking and rocks splitting (Matt. 27:51) at Jesus’ death, and foreshadows the “violent earthquake” (Matt. 28:2) at the opening of Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. These loud noises are recounted for us only in Matthew’s Gospel.*
There are, at the beginning of the service, seven candles lit, one for each of the seven last words of Christ. After the scripture passage for each is read, a candle is extinguished, until the church is in total darkness. (The service was always held at night.) The service concludes with the ‘strepitus’ - a very loud and sudden 'CRACK!" in the darkness. The altar is stripped, and everyone leaves in silence. It is a very moving service.
lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=3909
*Strepitus
Q. We attended the Good Friday service tonight and in the program there was a Latin phrase “The Strepitus.” Can you tell me the translation of this? Also at the end of the service the pastor “closed the book” (slammed shut). What is the significance and meaning of this part of the service?
A. The “strepitus” (pronounced STREP-ee-toose) means “loud noise” and is signified by the slamming of a book or door toward the conclusion of the Good Friday Tenebrae Service (“Service of Darkness”). The “loud noise” symbolizes the earth shaking and rocks splitting (Matt. 27:51) at Jesus’ death, and foreshadows the “violent earthquake” (Matt. 28:2) at the opening of Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. These loud noises are recounted for us only in Matthew’s Gospel.*
There are, at the beginning of the service, seven candles lit, one for each of the seven last words of Christ. After the scripture passage for each is read, a candle is extinguished, until the church is in total darkness. (The service was always held at night.) The service concludes with the ‘strepitus’ - a very loud and sudden 'CRACK!" in the darkness. The altar is stripped, and everyone leaves in silence. It is a very moving service.
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bpbasilphx
Guest
\As a former Lutheran, I attended Tenebrae services every Good Friday. I have never found anything equivalent to it in the Catholic Church.\
Where do you think the Lutherans got Tenebrae, down to the Strepitus, from?
Where do you think the Lutherans got Tenebrae, down to the Strepitus, from?
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frenchbeatle
Guest
My parish is having Tenebrae at 7:00pm on Good Friday. After doing lots of reading on it, I’m looking forward to it and planning on going. I’m espeically curious about the loud banging/cracking sound symbolizing the earthquake. Thanks for the additional info!
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LindaSK
Guest
Do Catholics still practice this regularly? None of the Catholic churches around me do, which is why I said what I did! The local Lutheran church does this every year. If it is a familiar custom in the Catholic Church, why is it that few of the Catholics I speak with have any idea what I am talking about? I could go to any Lutheran here, and they would know exactly what I am talking about, and far more Lutherans in my area attend Good Friday Tenebrae Service than Catholics attend their Good Friday Services. I kid you not!
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peregrinator_it
Guest
As bpbasilphx said, Tenebrae is combined Matins and Lauds for Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday. Tenebrae is a part of the Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hours “tailored” to Holy Week, so it includes readings (the Lamentations of Jeremiah) and responses not heard at other times of the year and the use of a menorah-shaped candelabra, called a “hearse”, one candle of which is extinguished after every Psalm/Canticle.
I’m grateful that Tenebrae was fairly common in my part of California growing up (my own parish prayed it- on Good Friday only, though- until the most recent pastor replaced with a Polish Lentin service
) and you can still find parishes that pray it on all 3 days.There was a parish in the wine country where I was living a couple years ago that sang Tenebrae early in the morning (a good compromise, I think) Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday. (I don’t remember them doing the thumping at the end, though. There are conflicting stories as to where that practice comes from.) Since I’ll be home for Easter this year, I’m planning on going and really looking forward to it!
In the DC area, it’s a lot harder to find.
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bpbasilphx
Guest
**If you read my first post on this thread, you’ll see where I already answered your questions.
In the Byzantine tradition, there is something comparable–the Bridegroom Matin on the first four days of Holy Week, which gets anticipated overnight, e.g., Monday Matins on Sunday Evening.
Of course, the most popular services of the last three days are also expanded versions Matins and Vespers. **
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Bailey2
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Thank you bpbasilphx for your explanation. Think I will go this year; never been. Our Catholic church does it the Wednesday evening before Holy Thursday. Has for years.
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LindaSK
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twf
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Linda: I think you have misread his tone. He did answer the question in the first post - he was simply stating a fact. It is often a problem on forums that posters skip over large parts of a thread and thus miss vital information.
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johnnykins
Guest
The Tenebrae service at my church is held on Spy Wednesday. The Tenebrae Hearse is a special candle stick for 15 candles - one candle is extinguished after each reading - until the last candle, still lighted, is removed from the sanctuary and the Strepitus - a rolling loud noise made like an earthquake - sounds with the church in total darkness. The lighted candle is then returned to the hearse.
It’s the only service I know of that starts in light and end in darkness (one candle excepted
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It can be very moving if done correctly. It takes about 1.5 hours with 15 readings and chant.
It’s the only service I know of that starts in light and end in darkness (one candle excepted
)It can be very moving if done correctly. It takes about 1.5 hours with 15 readings and chant.
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LindaSK
Guest
Thank you. Point well taken - partially, anyway. I did miss some of the information in his first post - my mistake. As a relatively new Catholic, though, some of that information was over my head. I know I still have a lot to learn. I also felt the OP was sincere when he/she said some of the information was hard to understand. Since Tenebrae services no longer seem to be a common practice in Catholic churches, I could understand why the OP asked about them. From my experience, which I stated, the tradition seems to have been maintained in the Lutheran Church - here, at least. I also never said it originated in the Lutheran Church.
It still doesn’t make sense to me why a Tenebrae service that includes the Strepitus would be held on any day other than Good Friday, but, I will do more research. I wish we had a local Catholic church that still had such a service. I will ask my priest. Father is used to all my questions!
I do appreciate all I have learned here on CAF.
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johnnykins
Guest
I think the answer as to why it is usually held now on Spy Wednesday rather than Good Friday is tied to the introduction of the Triduum in the 50’s. As I understand it, the Triduum is considered one service with 3 parts over 3 days. Essentially the evening Veneration of the Cross and the traditional 3PM Stations of the Cross on Good Friday makes it, as a practical matter, pretty dense to try to include the Tenebrae on Good Friday.
Spy Wednesday, to my knowledge, has never had a traditional service. So, moving the Tenebrae to then does not disrupt the timing of another service, brings Spy Wednesday more closely into the Paschal celebration, and as a precursor to the Triduum calls us to humble preparation as a summation of Christ’s life, death and resurrection: recalling prophesy and his life through the readings, recalling His death through the darkness and strepitus, and recalling His resurrection through the return of His light…
So, Tenebrae on Spy Wednesday has a certain practicality and can be viewed as a summation right before the end of Lent of the entire Paschal Mystery. It strikes me as what is really meant by organic development of the liturgy - it is a practical change that fits.
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LindaSK
Guest
Thank you. I couldn’t find a very good explanation in my research, and Father makes Communion calls today, so I haven’t had the chance to speak with him. His parents live in Poland, and I would be curious to know if the Tenebrae Service might be more common there. On Candlemas Day(as with various Church celebrations), he shared with us how that is celebrated in his family’s church in Poland. I had never heard of Spy Wednesday before reading this post. As I said, I know I have a lot to learn!
Can some of the reasoning for moving the Tenbrae also be used to explain why Palm Sunday is not strictly celebrated as such, but is focused rather on the Passion, using the same readings as Good Friday? In the three years I have been Catholic, I have yet to understand this. To my mind, there should be a contrast in the tone of Palm Sunday and that of Good Friday. Or should I ask this as a new thread? It just seems there may be a connection.
Would a Tenebrae Service, then, not include communion, but, the Liturgy of the Word only?
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johnnykins
Guest
Tenebrae is strictly readings and chant - from the posts here it seems as if it grew out of the Liturgy of the Hours.
I don’t know the answer to your other questions, though I believe the answers are connected to the change in Calendar following VII. It’s funny how traditionally Lent was 40 Fast Days: Ash Wed to the following Saturday: 4 days then the following 6 weeks of 6 days each (Sundays being feast days “in” Lent but not “of” Lent) for a total of 40 days. Now the Triduum is considered its own time - or so I’ve been told: meaning Lent is 37 days plus everywhere I go I’m now told the Sundays are part of Lent rather than “in” Lent; so maybe we have 43 days of Lent?
It doesn’t make that much difference to me, though from time-to-time I stop to think it’s interesting.
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LindaSK
Guest
Posted by johnnykins:
I found this: churchyear.net/triduum.html
It is interesting!
From what I’ve read here and from other sources, that’s what I have come to understand. That also makes me wonder if a Tenebrae would be more likely to be observed in a monastery than in a parish church, both now and in the past.
** It’s funny how traditionally Lent was 40 Fast Days: Ash Wed to the following Saturday: 4 days then the following 6 weeks of 6 days each (Sundays being feast days “in” Lent but not “of” Lent) for a total of 40 days. ** That was my understanding of the forty days of Lent.
I found this: churchyear.net/triduum.html
- Since the Triduum is Separate from Lent, is Lent No Longer 40 Days? Does Lent Really End on Holy Thursday?
Technically, according to current Catholic discipline, Lent lasts 44 days, from Ash Wednesday through the morning of Holy Thursday (including Sundays), until the Triduum begins on Holy Thursday evening. Nonetheless, the traditional Lenten fast runs from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, and does not include Sundays, since it is not appropriate to fast on a Sunday, the weekly feast of the resurrection. This fast lasts 40 days.
It is interesting!
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bpbasilphx
Guest
\ It’s funny how traditionally Lent was 40 Fast Days: Ash Wed to the following Saturday: 4 days then the following 6 weeks of 6 days each (Sundays being feast days “in” Lent but not “of” Lent) for a total of 40 days. That was my understanding of the forty days of Lent.\
Not in Byzantine usage. Either preposition is used indifferently.
Not in Byzantine usage. Either preposition is used indifferently.
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LindaSK
Guest
So, in the Byzantine Rite, you are required to fast even on Sundays during Lent, or they are counted as days of Lent? What about the Triduum?
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AJV
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Tenebrae did grow out of the Liturgy of the Hours. Previously the Liturgy of the Hours was longer, as you can see here. The LOTH for the Triduum was marked by special features such as omission of introductions, hymns, and so forth. You can see it here. If you are interested in how it used to be, the Internet Archive has a very good book.
Prior to the 50’s, it was not permitted to have Mass in the mid afternoon- evening. Thus all the Masses were celebrated in the morning. So for all example, the Easter Vigil was celebrated the morning of Holy Saturday. Another rule was that regularly, until 1962, priests should celebrate Matins and Lauds before Mass. Because of its length, this was allowed to be anticipated i.e. instead on its day, it could be done the previous day.
So Tenebrae is more or less, as others have said, the Liturgy of the Hours recited on a previous day. Thursday’s was recited on Wednesday, Friday’s on Thursday, and Saturday’s on Friday. Since in many places these services were held in the afternoon-evening (unlike Mass), they also became quite popular. This of course supposes they were held - although it was common, it was also somewhat difficult to find people to sing the music and so forth.
In the 50’s, there was a reform of the rites of the Holy Week, and among other things, services were introduced in the afternoons, and it was decreed that the Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Week should abide by the proper times (so e.g. Morning Prayer/Lauds on the morning of the day). The popularity of the afternoon services, as well as other pastoral obligations thus decreased the practice of the tenebrae.
Modern day Tenebrae of other denominations try to keep the idea of a certain number of Scripture Readings and psalms or meditations. A liturgical Tenebrae celebrated in a Latin-rite Catholic Church should follow either Matins and Lauds from the Breviarium Romanum of 1961/2, or the Office of Readings and Lauds(Morning Prayer) from the Liturgy of the Hours. A local parish in my area does this for Good Friday and Holy Saturday in lieu of a morning Mass (which cannot be celebrated).
The Gospel at Palm Sunday is to introduce our thoughts to Holy Week. Formerly, and still in churches which celebrate the Latin Mass according to the 1962 liturgical books, the account of the Passion was read from each of the four Gospels during Holy Week. Matthew on the Sunday, Mark on Tuesday, Luke on Wednesday and John on Friday. The idea was to keep in mind the whole of Holy Week as a period of sorrow in contemplating the sufering and Passion.
When the new three year lectionary was introduced in 1970, the Passion on Palm Sunday was read from each of the synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke, in years A, B and C respectively, - while John will kept on Good Friday The account of the entry into Jerusalem is read at the procession and blessing of the palms.
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