Florida Catholic | Ancient Tenebrae Service Sets Tone For Somber Days

Ancient Tenebrae service sets tone for somber days

KATHY GROBE | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 04.04.08

TALLAHASSEE | The church is awash in gentle light; the glow of overhead lamps and candles on the altar bathes the congregation. Some of them are in prayer, some of them chat with neighbors. Some of them anticipate the Tenebrae service as veterans, while newcomers wonder anxiously what is to come.

Tenebrae, Latin for “shadows,” is the name given to the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours belonging to the last three days of Holy Week. It differs in many ways from the office, or group of prayers, of the rest of the year. It is sad and mournful, as though it were a funeral service. On other days of the year, the Liturgy of the Hours begins with prayers and hymns of praise. Throughout Tenebrae, there is no expression of joy or hope. Nothing is left but what is essential to the form of the Divine Office: psalms, lessons and chants expressive of grief.

For several years, the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More has celebrated this service as a fitting opening to the events of Holy Week. Organized by Florida State University’s Catholic Student Union, the service is rich in tradition that sets the stage for the events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Father Eddie Jones, parochial vicar of the co-cathedral, presided over the service. Father Richard Schamber, parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament Parish, was the guest homilist.

After each of the readings of the liturgy, candles are extinguished, one by one, until the co-cathedral is plunged into darkness. As the assembly contemplates Jesus being symbolically laid in the tomb, the paschal candle is removed from the sanctuary. Its voice hushed to a whisper, the congregation prays the Our Father. Suddenly the “strepitus” — a loud noise symbolizing the earth shaking and rocks splitting at Jesus’ death (Mt 27:51) — rings out, evoking the sound of thunder and the stone rolling across the tomb, and minutes later, the paschal candle is returned to the sanctuary in symbolic anticipation of the Resurrection. The congregation files out in silence, mourning Christ’s death and contemplating the mystery of the Resurrection that is yet to come.

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Ancient Tenebrae service sets tone for somber days

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