Tenebrae is a unique and powerful liturgy that starts in dim light and ends in darkness with the extinguishing of candles during each scripture reading. 

We experience the grief of Jesus' painful and sorrowful death on the cross through our senses, by the weight of darkness and shock of noise that mimics the earth quake upon his death. 

Tenebrae ends in darkness and silence, reminding us of the deep emptiness of our sin-fraught world when Jesus was no longer in it, but one light is left burning, reminding us that the darkness is temporary because Christ will triumph over death and evil. 

Tenebrae Service, 8:30pm
8:30pm, Good Friday in St. Anthony de Padua Church. 

Holy Week Liturgies & Info
 

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About Tenebrae

A tradition that has been revived in many Catholic churches is the ancient Office of Tenebrae. “Tenebrae” means “darkness” or “shadows,” and is derived from the phrase in the Gospels: “tenebrae factae sunt super universam terram” — “darkness came over the whole land.” — Mt 27:45. It commemorates the withdrawal of the light as Christ died on the cross. Some have described Tenebrae as a sort of funeral for Christ.

Psalms, hymns and readings are employed, including several passages from the Book of Lamentations. The place of worship is gradually stripped throughout the service, often symbolized by the extinguishing, one by one, of candles and lights, until the church is left in total darkness. This is accompanied by a “strepitus,” or “loud noise,” sometimes made by the assembly slamming their books shut or banging on the pews for a few moments, to recall the earthquake that struck the land at the hour of Christ’s death.

A single candle may then be reintroduced and left to burn as a promise that the victory of the prince of darkness is only temporary, and that Christ will ultimately and definitively triumph over death.

There is an interesting musical story associated with this service. During Tenebrae at the Sistine Chapel in the 17th and 18th centuries, the choir would sing an ethereal version of a piece called “Miserere mei, Deus” (“Have mercy on me, O God”), a setting of Psalm 51 attributed to several composers, but primarily to Gregorio Allegri. This piece features an amalgamation of chant and haunting polyphony, and was renowned across Europe not only for its beauty, but also because the music was not permitted to be transcribed or performed anywhere outside the Vatican. The ban was finally lifted after a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — then only 14 — attended Tenebrae at the Sistine Chapel and wrote out the entire piece from memory afterwards. If you have heard the “Miserere” performed before, especially in a liturgical context, you are privileged indeed!

By Brian MacMichael, Today's Catholic, 2011