The Liturgies of Holy Week
Preparing for the Celebration of the Easter Triduum

During the last days of Lent—Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week—we are given three opportunities to prepare corporately for the celebration of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. On Monday and Tuesday, we are invited to gather for the centuries-old service of Evening Prayer. On Wednesday, the ancient service of Tenebrae draws us into contemplation of our salvation history and of the suffering that Jesus endured for our sake.

The name Tenebrae (the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows”) has for centuries been applied to the ancient monastic night and early morning services (Matins and Lauds) of the last three days of Holy Week, which in medieval times came to be celebrated on the preceding evenings.

Apart from the chanting of psalms and reading of the Lamentations, the most conspicuous feature of the service is the gradual extinguishing of candles and other lights in the church until only a single candle, considered a symbol of our Lord, remains. Toward the end of the service, this candle is hidden, typifying the apparent victory of the forces of evil. At the very end, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2), the hidden candle is restored to its place, and by its light all depart in silence.

In The Book of Occasional Services (the source which provides the rubrics for this service), the three services have been compressed* into a single service on Wednesday evening of Holy Week in order that the proper liturgies of the Easter Triduum—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter—may find their place as the principal services of those days. Since people outside monasteries are not expected to gather for three successive pre-dawn services, this adaptation also makes the service accessible to the laity. By drawing upon psalms, lessons, and responsories from each of the former three offices of Tenebrae, this service provides an extended meditation upon, and a prelude to, the events in our Lord’s life between the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

There is no musical prelude or postlude at this service, nor are crosses or torches carried, or hymns sung, or sermons preached. According to ancient tradition, the appointed antiphons and psalms are chanted; the antiphons are sung in full before and after each psalm. The darkness, the deliberate silence, the stark solemnity, and the mournful tone of the chant combine to communicate the primal meaning of Holy Week.