Tenebrae – St. Augustine's Schola

Tenebrae: Canticle of Zachariah

The melody for the Canticle of Zachariah is more elaborate than the psalm tones, so I thought it would be easiest to do the antiphon and the canticle in the same post. First the antiphon – here it is in solfege: …and with the words: For the canticle itself, keep in mind that the cantorContinue reading “Tenebrae: Canticle of Zachariah”

Tenebrae: Antiphon Melodies

If you have been attending Vespers, it wont take too long for you to catch on with the Tenebrae service this Good Friday. The cantor will sing the antiphon (and the first verse of the psalm so that you can hear the melody), followed by the two sides singing the psalm/canticle antiphonally (though be sureContinue reading “Tenebrae: Antiphon Melodies”

Psalm 21(22)

I know, I’ve already given you a lot of lectures to enrich our prayer, but I’m hoping you will be open to one more. This lecture (also with the ICC – no, they’re not paying me) was given last Sunday. It places Christ’s reference to Psalm 22 within the larger context of His humanity/temptation/suffering/hope. HaveContinue reading “Psalm 21(22)”

A little context for Matins…

We have a lot of ground to cover during our 7-7:45 preparation class on Good Friday, and I would hate for our focus on the chants to prevent us from engaging with the heart of the prayer. I will offer some notes as we go along, but for a better understanding of what we areContinue reading “A little context for Matins…”

Benedictus

Here is the practice material for the Canticle of Zachariah. A helpful way to remember that jump from “re” to “la” in the second syllable is to think of the Star Wars song – once you have the movement from the low note to the high note in your head, it will be much easierContinue reading “Benedictus”

Antiphon melodies

Why do we solfege? It is the best way for us to both learn each note of the melody with accuracy, as well as strengthen our ability to learn chants in the future. Thus, I provided the melody with the solfege underneath, and then included an audio that you can practice with. Listen as youContinue reading “Antiphon melodies”

Just a helpful perspective…

I came across this Holy Week schedule from 1936 on the New Liturgical Movement, which you all might find interesting and helpful: As you can see, Tenebrae is celebrated for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday – but they begin on Wednesday. That is because Compline (night prayer – celebrated at 5:15pm on thisContinue reading “Just a helpful perspective…”

What is Tenebrae?

We have begun our preparation for Tenebrae, which will be on Good Friday, so I thought I would share a video provided by Wyoming Catholic College. The video presents a sense of Tenebrae before the changes that were made to the Divine Office around the time of Vatican II. Many churches currently offer what isContinue reading “What is Tenebrae?”

Good Friday – Tenebrae

We are coming down to the last week! Thank you all for taking part in the Evening Prayers during the season of Lent. There is a lot to learn for this Friday, but I believe it will be worth all of the extra effort. Please keep in mind, practice will be from 7 to 7:45pmContinue reading “Good Friday – Tenebrae”

Friday in Lent – Week 5

We made it to the last week of Lent! You may find this Vespers service pretty accessible considering we already encountered this set of Psalms and we will be using the same Magnificat melody that we learned the first time we sang it in Latin – you can go back to the post from theContinue reading “Friday in Lent – Week 5”