The Sisters of Mercy on Shaw Island invite you to join them in prayer. Tenebrae (meaning "darkness") is an ancient tradition of praying the Liturgy of the Hours during the Sacred Triduum. It is the Office of Readings + 3 Lamentations of Jeremiah + Morning Prayer for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We recite and chant it, so the entire prayer takes about one hour. We will begin at 6am, hoping to match praying the Benedictus with sunrise each day. The prayer is associated with praying it in the darkness. There is a candelabra of 15 candles and one candle is snuffed out at various times through the prayer. At the same time, the dawn is coming and providing the Light. At the end, the 15th candle is NOT snuffed out, but taken away, symbolizing Christ in the tomb Who then returns. A banging sound may be heard, which is to mimic the earthquake of Easter.
If you have a full set of the Liturgy of the Hours, you'll have the Office of Readings included and you can follow along. You can also use the Universalis app or eBreviary or any app that gives you the Liturgy of the Hours. It just may not include the Lamentations. Or, you may just prayerfully listen.
Join the Zoom Meeting Thursday 3/28, Friday 3/29, Saturday 3/30 Start time is 6:00am each day. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87432480057?pwd=VFZhKzM3cGxrRmx4UWhMZjY1SUpKQT09