Tenebrae.
‡
Copyright 1891, by the Cathedral Library Association.
That portion of the Divine office which is called Matins and Lauds is chanted publicly and with great solemnity on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Holy Week. This service is called the Tenebrae from the Latin word "darkness," because this office was formerly celebrated during the night, and even when the hour was anticipated the name of Tenebrae was kept because although it began with daylight, it ended after the sun had set. It may be too that this office points to the times when the Christians lived in persecution and concealment and consequently selected the night as the fittest time for the celebration of their sacred rites.
For many centuries this office continued to be performed at midnight, but that practice is kept up only in monasteries and convents of strictest observance. Each of its divisions is styled a nocturn or nightly prayer. It differs in very many particulars from the office of Matins as usually recited by the clergy throughout the year. Everything is expressive of the grief pressing upon Mother Church. All formulas of joy and hope wherewith on all other days she began to praise God are omitted. The "Domine labia mea aperies" (Oh Lord thou shalt open my lips), and the "Deus in adjutorium meum intende" (incline
