Office of Tenebrae, Wednesday, 8 PM at St. Mary’s Norwalk

A modern German Tenebrae Hearse. Photo:Bautsch

Office of Tenebrae to be sung at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, this Wednesday, March 31 at 8pm, preceded by Mass according to the Extraordinary Form, 7 pm.

Tenebrae, the Office of Darkness, is the early morning offices of Matins
and Lauds anticipated the evening before during the Sacred Triduum. This
somber yet moving service consists of a series of psalms and readings,
including the stirring performance of the Lamentations of the Prophet
Jeremiah on Israel’s desolation. As the psalms are completed, the
candles and lights in the church are gradually extinguished, until all
are left in darkness awaiting the returning light of the resurrected Christ.

Music: Fifteen psalms and their antiphons, lessons for each of the three
nocturns (Lamentations of Jeremiah, St. Augustine, and St. Paul), and
responsories chanted according to the ancient Gregorian melodies;
William Byrd’s “Miserere mei”.