We precede the Triduum with Tenebrae (Latin for “shadows” or “darkness”) which is a religious service celebrated in Holy Week on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday. Rich in symbolism, the service of Tenebrae incorporates the use of light and darkness to invoke the spiritual reality recalled within the prayer. For instance, as the service is celebrated (on the morning of Good Friday in its earliest days), the candles used for lighting are successively extinguished so that by the end only one candle is left burning. While the church found itself in darkness, the lone candle, the light of the one who would sacrifice himself for the life of the world, would remain and be seen as the light in darkness. Hope was restored for God’s faithful ones.
Tenebrae will begin at 6:30 pm. At St. Alban’s, we use a somewhat shorter version as included below which you may feel free to use. For chants from the Psalter, we use the notation from the Sarum Psalter Noted. I have set the people’s portion of the antiphons in bold.
Blessings of Holy Week,
Canon Nalls
Tenebrae of Wednesday Evening
(Mattins & Lauds of Maundy Thursday)
The following are said by each worshiper in silence:
O Lord, open thou my mouth that I may bless thy holy Name; cleanse also my heart from all vain, evil and wandering thoughts; enlighten my understanding, enkindle my affections that I may be able worthily, attentively and devoutly to recite these Offices, and may be meet to be heard in the presence of thy divine Majesty; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord, in union with that divine intention with which thou thyself on earth didst render praise to God, I offer to thee these Hours.
The Lord’s Prayer
The Hail Mary
The Apostles Creed (page 15)
The antiphons are said in unison; the psalms are read responsively. One candle on the stand is extinguished at the end of each psalm.
Mattins.
Nocturn I.
[Antiphon 1] The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me: and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me.
Psalm 69 (page 421)
[Antiphon 1] The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me: and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me.
[Antiphon 2] Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that wish me evil.
Psalm 70 (page 424)
[Antiphon 2] Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that wish me evil.
[Antiphon 3] Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly.
Psalm 71 (page 425)
[Antiphon 3] Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly.
Lesson 1: Lamentations of Jeremiah 1.1
Nocturn II.
[Antiphon 1] He shall deliver the poor when he crieth: the needy also, and him that hath no helper.
Psalm 72 (page 426)
[Antiphon 1] He shall deliver the poor when he crieth: the needy also, and him that hath no helper.
[Antiphon 2] They speak of wicked blasphemy: their talking is against the Most High.
Psalm 73 (page 428)
[Antiphon 2] They speak of wicked blasphemy: their talking is against the most High.
[Antiphon 3] Arise, O God: and maintain my cause.
Psalm 74 (page 430)
[Antiphon 3] Arise, O God: and maintain my cause.
Lesson 2: From the Treatise on the Psalms by St. Augustine the Bishop
Nocturn III.
[Antiphon 1] I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly: speak not with a stiff neck.
Psalm 75 (page 431)
[Antiphon 1] I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly: speak not with a stiff neck.
[Antiphon 2] The earth trembled, and was still: when God arose to judgement.
Psalm 76 (page 432)
[Antiphon 2] The earth trembled, and was still: when God arose to judgement.
[Antiphon 3] In the time of my trouble: I sought the Lord.
Psalm 77 (page 433)
[Antiphon 3] In the time of my trouble: I sought the Lord.
Lesson 3: I Corinthians 11.17
Lauds.
[Antiphon 1] Mayest thou be justified in thy saying: and clear when thou art judged.
Psalm 51 (page 403)
[Antiphon 1] Mayest thou be justified in thy saying: and clear when thou art judged.
[Antiphon 2] The Lord as a lamb, is led to the slaughter, and he opened not his mouth.
Psalm 90 (page 453)
[Antiphon 2] The Lord as a lamb, is led to the slaughter, and he opened not his mouth.
[Antiphon 3] My heart within me is broken: all my bones shake.
Psalm 36 (page 383)
[Antiphon 3] My heart within me is broken: all my bones shake.
[Antiphon 4] Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power, who didst admonish us today to refresh ourselves in remembrance of thee.
The Song of Moses. Exodus 15.1
I WILL sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
[2] The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
[3] The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
[4] Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
[5] The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
[6] Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
[7] And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
[8] And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
[9] The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
[10] Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
[11] Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
[12] Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
[13] Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
[14] The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine.
[15] Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
[16] Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
[17] Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
[18] The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
[19] For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them.
[20] But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
[Antiphon 4] Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power, who didst admonish us today to refresh ourselves in remembrance of thee.
[Antiphon 5] He offered up himself because he did will it, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree.
Psalm 147 (page 522)
[Antiphon 5] He offered up himself because he did will it, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree.
[Antiphon to Benedictus] Now he that betrayed him gave him a sign, saying: Whom I shall kiss, that same is he; hold him fast.
Benedictus. (page 14)
One candle on the altar is extinguished at the end of every other verse.
[Antiphon to Benedictus] Now he that betrayed him gave him a sign, saying: Whom I shall kiss, that same is he; hold him fast.
All: Christ for our sake became obedient unto death.
The last remaining lit candle on the stand is hidden.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. AMEN.
The hidden candle is shown, and all leave in silence.
For your cnvenience
A Reading from the Treatise of Saint Augustine the Bishop on the Psalms
“Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition. Listen to me and answer me. I mourn in my trial and am troubled.”
These are the words of one disquieted, in trouble and anxiety. He prays under much suffering, desiring to be delivered from evil. Let us now see under what evil he lies; and when he begins to speak, let us place ourselves beside him, that, by sharing his tribulation, we may also join in his prayer.
“I mourn in my trial,” he says, “and am troubled.”
When does he mourn? When is he troubled? He says, “In my trial.” He has in mind the wicked who cause him suffering, and he calls this suffering his “trial.” Do not think that the evil are in the world for no purpose, and that God makes no good use of them. Every wicked person lives either that he may be corrected, or that through him the righteous may be tried and tested.
Would that those who now test us were converted and tried with us; yet though they continue to try us, let us not hate them, for we do not know whether any of them will persist to the end in their evil ways. And most of the time, when you think you are hating your enemy, you are hating your brother without knowing it.
Only the devil and his angels are shown to us in the Holy Scriptures as doomed to eternal fire. It is only their amendment that is hopeless, and against them we wage a hidden battle. For this battle the Apostle arms us, saying, “We are not contending against flesh and blood,” that is, not against human beings whom we see, “but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” So that you may not think that demons are the rulers of heaven and earth, he says, “of the darkness of this world.”
He says, “of the world,” meaning the lovers of the world — of the “world,” meaning the ungodly and wicked — the “world” of which the Gospel says, “And the world knew him not.”
“For I have seen unrighteousness and strife in the city.”
See the glory of the cross itself. On the brow of kings that cross is now placed, the cross which enemies once mocked. Its power is shown in the result. He has conquered the world, not by steel, but by wood. The wood of the cross seemed a fitting object of scorn to his enemies, and standing before that wood they wagged their heads, saying, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” He stretched out his hands to an unbelieving and rebellious people. If one is just who lives by faith, one who does not have faith is unrighteous. Therefore when he says “unrighteousness,” understand that it is unbelief. The Lord then saw unrighteousness and strife in the city, and stretched out his hands to an unbelieving and rebellious people. And yet, looking upon them, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
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