This holy week, join us for an ancient, mystical, and profound prayer experience.

What is it? The prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours [Invitatory, Office of Readings + Lamentations of Jeremiah, and Morning Prayer] for the days of the Sacred Triduum.

Where: The event will be in person only (no livestreaming - but people can watch a previous year’s recording).

When: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, 6-7am.

Why so early? Tenebrae means “darkness”, and so the devotion is timed to take place right before sunrise.

Do I have to sing? We will be chanting most of the prayers, as this is part of the experience. but these are very simple and repetitive melodic formulas that anyone can sing along with. We will have a choir and cantors to lead and support us in chanting the prayers.

"With a dimly-lit church, a rarely-seen candle holder, somber tones, and a candle hidden behind a curtain or the altar, Tenebrae is a unique and special liturgy in the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. (...) The only light traditionally came from the Tenebrae hearse, or large candle holder. (...) the top candle, which symbolizes Our Lord Jesus Christ. After each of the Psalms (...) the bottom-most candle is extinguished, alternating sides.Not only does this rubric slowly bring the church closer to complete darkness, and the time in the Office when the death of Our Lord is commemorated, but it provides a stark visual that Our Lord is slowly but surely left alone in the darkness of the world, fraught with sin. At the end of the final lesson, the final candle is removed by a server (...) hidden (...), signifying the burial of Our Lord in the tomb. A noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the Crucifixion."