The psalms of Tenebrae

This year by way of a daily Lenten meditation offering, I plan to focus on the psalms of the Office of Tenebrae, which is traditionally sung on the evenings of Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Tenebrae, where it is still sung, is a particularly beautiful part of the Holy Week liturgy.  It is most famous perhaps for its beautiful ceremonial, including the hearse of candles, one of which is extinguished as each psalm is said, and for the reading or singing of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and the various responsories of Tenebrae that go with the Matins readings (including the many famous polyphonic settings thereof).

Why the psalms?

I want, however, to concentrate on the psalms of the Tenebrae, which I think provide a really splendid teasing out of the events and theology that underlies the Sacred Triduum, those three intense days that encapsulate the wait for the salvation of the Resurrection that is the theme of the whole of Lent.

St Robert Bellarmine in his commentary on the first psalm of Tenebrae, Psalm 68, points out that the Gospels are often quite sparse on the details of the events of these days.  The Gospels do, however, repeatedly point us to the texts which draw out the events in more detail. 

Psalm 68, for example, is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament.  Here is St Robert's explanation of why:

The history of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Gospel, takes very little notice of the intensity of his sufferings, because the evangelists wished to show that it was quite voluntary, and borne with the greatest fortitude. But, as it was right that the world should know that the sufferings of Christ were intense beyond measure, and learn from thence the extent of their debt to the Redeemer, the Holy Ghost was pleased to reveal the intensity of his sufferings, long before, to the prophets, and, through them, as trustworthy witnesses and above suspicion, to be narrated to us. Isaias, therefore, wrote much about them, so did Jeremias, but none more than David."

And because this Office is so ancient, the particular psalms selected can teach us a lot about the understanding the early Church had of these events.

Accordingly, praying and meditating on one of them a day might make a suitable Lenten penance or at least form part of our Lenten program.

The Office of Tenebrae

Tenebrae, a word which literally means darkness, is the very ancient form of the Divine Office said during the Sacred Triduum.  The monastic and Roman forms of the (pre-1955 reform) Office of Tenebrae are identical, reflecting the ancient origins of the hour.

It has, unfortunately, been abolished altogether in the novus ordo. 

And even the 1962 Office rubrics prohibit anticipating Lauds, though this is universally ignored!  

In any case, the Office of Tenebrae on each of the three days consists of the 'hours' of Matins (originally said after midnight) and Lauds (normally said at first light).  During the Triduum, however, both hours are joined together and said in darkness.

Matins on each day consists of three nocturns, each with three psalms with antiphons, and three readings, each of which has a responsory (and the chant settings of these are some of the richest and most challenging in the chant repertory). 

Lauds on each day largely follows the normal psalm cursus (with a few tweaks to the variable psalms), reflecting the mini-Triduum already built into the Office for this hour. 

At Matins, the psalms of Maundy Thursday are those of the normal (pre-1910) psalm cursus for that day, again, I would suggest, reflecting the appropriateness of these for the day of the week; on Friday and Saturday however, the psalms are selected particularly for these two days of the year.

The psalms

As a few of the psalms are repeated, there are exactly enough for us to look at one a day in the period up to Holy Wednesday.

The psalms set for the Office of Maundy Thursday in the 1962 version are: (psalm numbering according to the Vulgate; an asterix indicates a psalm that is repeated): 68, 69, 70; 71, 72, 73; 74, 75*, 76; 50*, 89, 35, [Ex 15]; 146.

For Good Friday: 2, 21, 26*; 37, 39, 53*; 58, 87*, 93; 50*, 142, 84, [Hab]; 147.

For Holy Saturday: 4, 14, 15; 23, 26*, 29; 53*, 75*, 87*; 50*, 91, 63, [Is 38], 150.


I do hope you will join me in meditating on one of these psalms each day...and you can find the next part in the series here.