Lenten prayer and music service
Monday March 19St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel
7 p.m. Central Time
Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology will present a service of Lenten prayer and music called “Harvest of Sorrows.”
It will be held on Monday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Central Time in the school’s St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel, St. Meinrad, IN. The service is free and open to the public.
In the Roman rite of the Catholic Church, the Tenebrae service was celebrated in all churches with a sufficient number of clergy until the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII in the 1950s.
The Tenebrae service usually takes place on one of the last three days of Holy Week: Holy Thursday, Good Friday or Holy Saturday. Today, in some parishes, this service takes place prior to the Triduum during another day of Holy Week.
The purpose of this service was to remember the somber events that occurred in Jesus’ life from the exuberant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the night of Jesus’ burial on Good Friday. Readings would take place at each of the events followed by one of seven candles being extinguished.
At the end of the service, there would be total darkness signifying Christ lying in the tomb. The word Tenebrae is Latin for “shadows” or “darkness.” It can also be translated as “night” or “death.” In recent years, the readings have been replaced with hymns in the form of a cantata introduced by a narrator.
The Saint Meinrad community offers a modified Tenebrae service by eliminating the candles and their sequential extinguishing. This change was made to be principally compliant with the history of the service, as the seminarian community is not here during Holy Week.
Nearly 30 seminarians, monks and community members will be offering their talents for this Lenten service.
Parking is available in the Guest House and student parking lots. For more information, contact Mary Jeanne Schumacher during business hours at (812) 357-6501. For updates on the day of the performance, call (812) 357-6611.