Tenebrae
[2][3] Modern celebrations called Tenebrae may be of quite different content and structure, based for example on the Seven Last Words or readings of the Passion of Jesus.
[7] In the Catholic Church, "Tenebrae" is the name given to the celebration, with special ceremonies, of matins and lauds, the first two hours of the Divine Office of each of the last three days of Holy Week.
[10] The celebration of matins and lauds of these days on the previous evening in the form referred to as Tenebrae in churches with a sufficient number of clergy was universal in the Roman Rite until the reform of the Holy Week ceremonies by Pope Pius XII in 1955.
The first part of the service is matins, which in its pre-1970 form is composed of three nocturns, each consisting of three psalms, a versicle, a silent Pater noster, and three readings, each followed by a responsory.
The pre-1970 lauds consists of five psalms, a short versicle and response, and the Benedictus Gospel canticle, followed by Christus factus est, a silent Pater Noster, and the appointed collect.
The strepitus (Latin for "great noise"), made by slamming a book shut, banging a hymnal or breviary against the pew, or stomping on the floor, symbolizes the earthquake that followed Christ's death, although it may have originated as a simple signal to depart.
[22] The 1 November 1911 reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X radically reorganized the weekly recitation of the Psalter.
[17] It is more difficult to find similar online 20th-century publication, but the text of the Tenebrae services as reformed by Pope Pius X in 1911 is available in the 1924 edition of the Liber Usualis.
[24] The lessons of the first nocturn at matins are taken on all three days from the Book of Lamentations and are sung to a specific Gregorian reciting tone,[64] which has been called "the saddest melody within the whole range of music".
The Tenebrae responsories have been set by, among others, Lassus, Gesualdo, Victoria, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Francesco Antonio Vallotti, and Jan Dismas Zelenka.
[66] The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours says: "Before morning Lauds on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the Office of Readings is, if possible, to be celebrated publicly and with the people taking part.
The 1955 and 1960 changes incorporated into that edition of the Breviary continue to exclude anticipation of matins and lauds to the previous evening, whether celebrated with or without the Tenebrae ceremonies.
Services called Tenebrae, differing in several respects from the original form and not necessarily connected with Holy Week, are held even where the pre-Vatican II 1961 Roman Breviary is not used: Unlike the original well-attended Tenebrae, these modern adaptations have attracted little attention on the part of musical composers.
This booklet develops that outline providing all of the materials necessary for a recitation of the office: All of the psalms, canticles, responsories, antiphons, and readings are reproduced in full.
Christ Church Cathedral (Fredericton) uses Tenebrae in a sung traditional language form on the Wednesday evening of Holy Week which includes lessons from Jeremiah with responding psalms, the fourth being from John 17, and Benedictus.
[86] Prior to the reading of the sixteenth lesson, the Christ candle on the Tenebrae hearse is extinguished and then the church bells are tolled.
Congregationalist versions of Tenebrae service, particularly on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, often contain readings from the gospels which describe the time between the Last Supper and the Passion of Christ.
Among the Byzantine Rite Orthodox the nearest equivalent is Matins of Great Friday, when a candlestick with 12 candles is set up[citation needed] in the center of the temple behind the analogion from which the Twelve Passion Gospels are read.
