Tenebrae

Karmette, also mourning Mette, older even Tenebrae, is the name of the Matins of the Church's prayer hours at the three Kart Agen Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Identification and Customs

The word comes Mette - as well as Matins - from the Latin ( Hora ) matutina " morning hour ". The Karmetten are (from Latin, darkness ', literally, shadow '), sinister Mette or " gloomy Mette " also known as Tenebrae. The name derives possibly from from the beginning of the fifth responsory Tenebrae on Good Friday factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Jesus Judaei " Darkness was created when the Jews crucified Jesus ." The Karmetten took place in the dark, unadorned church; after the celebration of Mass on the evening of Maundy Thursday candles, flowers and blankets were removed from the altars. So the fear of death of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, his exposure and the events of the Passion should be reflected.

Earlier rites as the pounding or the ritual beating or tapping on the pews of master of ceremonies at the end of the celebration are no longer used today. The pounding symbolized the approach of the captors of the High Council; the noise should bring the turmoil in the capture and the earthquake at the death of Christ, and later the outrage at the betrayal of Judas Iscariot expressed.

Regional this was celebrated as so-called pumper or lumber Mette at each eve. With the reorganization of the celebration of Holy Week by Pope Pius XII. the shape of the Tenebrae was changed, and they were moved to the morning of Kartage.

The Tenebrae have often been set to music. Best known are the works of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Even the Miserere by Gregorio Allegri was created for the celebration of Tenebrae as a setting of the first psalm of Lauds.

Liturgy

Before the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, the celebration of the funeral Metten was characterized by the number three: three consecutive nights, people gathered to chant matins, which consisted of three Nocturnes. Each Nokturn had prayed silently beside the Our ​​Father three variable elements: Psalm, reading, responsory. Each of these three elements came in every Nokturn three times before: three psalms and three lessons and three Responsorien.

The readings of the first Nokturn at each of the three Kartage were taken from the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah ( Lamentations ):

Today's shortened form of Karmette begins with the liturgical opening and the invitatory. This is followed by Matins and Lauds. The Matins begins with the hymn of the Holy Cross, you tree of the Loyalty (Latin Crux fidelis ) and three subsequent psalms with the corresponding antiphons. It is followed by two to three readings, each followed by a responsory. The Lamentations of Jeremiah sung and always lead in the cry of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Dominum Deum tuum convertere ad ( "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, turn back to the Lord your God "). Because of Lent no Te Deum is sung at the end of matins.

The subsequent Lauds consist of two psalms and the canticle Benedictus with the associated antiphons. The subsequent short reading followed instead of the usual responsory the solemn antiphon Christ factus est ("Christ for us was obedient unto death "). This is followed by the prayers and the Our ​​Father. Lauds close with the opening prayer and blessing.

Traditionally, located throughout the Karmette a light rake ( Tenebrae Chandelier ) or two symmetrically arranged candlesticks on the altar or in the choir room, each carrying seven rising arranged candles and thus form a triangle. The fourteen candles are considered symbols for the eleven Apostles and the three Marys: Mary Cleophas, Mary Salome and Mary Magdalene. In addition, still burning as a symbol of Christ another, usually a larger candle in the middle. At the beginning of worship burn all the candles. After each antiphon or reading a candle is extinguished. At the end of worship burns where appropriate, only the Christ candle, it can be also deleted on Holy Saturday as a sign of lying in the grave Christ.

Especially at the cathedral churches are celebrated the Karmetten with the community on the morning of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday; the songs and lyrics are generally taken from the Münster Schwarzacher Antiphonale. In addition, the Diocese of the Diocese of Rottenburg -Stuttgart praise of God and the Munich Kant Oral contain appropriate texts and proposals for the liturgical sequence.