Fire and light in the Western Triduum : their use at Tenebrae and at the Paschal vigil
The stage-by-stage development of Tenebrae is described showing the extension of light-loss at Lauds on Good Friday to the three night offices of the Western Triduum. The emergence, development, and use of the hearse at Tenebrae from the eleventh century onwards is explored, together with the integration of that device into the liturgical drama that the service of Tenebrae represented. The varying number of lights used and the extinction-points are shown to be derived from differing liturgical traditions. The presence of other lights at the service is discussed; and the extinguishing of lights is shown to have a rememorative, not a utilitarian origin. The new fire ceremonies of all the Western rites, which were of Galilean origin, were deliberately adopted by the Church as part of her missionary work. An in-depth survey of the ritual surrounding the kindling of the fire and the subsequent procession with the fire into church reveals a heritage of different cultural and liturgical traditions. Not only was the threefold production of fire linked to the triple performance of Tenebrae;the new fire ceremony was integrated into the Paschal vigil liturgy because of the common theme of light; and to the former was
MacGregor, Alistair J.
Christian worship use of light
Fire and light in the Western Triduum : their use at Tenebrae and at the Paschal vigil. The stage-by-stage development of Tenebrae is described showing the extension of light-loss at Lauds on Good Friday to the three night offices of the Western Triduum. The emergence, development, and use of the hearse at Tenebrae from the eleventh century onwards is explored, together with the integration of that device into the liturgical drama that the service of Tenebrae represented. The varying number of lights used and the extinction-points are shown to be derived from differing liturgical traditions. The presence of other lights at the service is discussed; and the extinguishing of lights is shown to have a rememorative, not a utilitarian origin. The new fire ceremonies of all the Western rites, which were of Galilean origin, were deliberately adopted by the Church as part of her missionary work. An in-depth survey of the ritual surrounding the kindling of the fire and the subsequent procession with the fire into church reveals a heritage of different cultural and liturgical traditions. Not only was the threefold production of fire linked to the triple performance of Tenebrae;the new fire ceremony was integrated into the Paschal vigil liturgy because of the common theme of light; and to the former was
fire light western use stage stage_development describe show extension light loss good night office western emergence_development use eleventh_century onwards explore together integration device liturgical drama service represent vary number light use extinction points show derived differ liturgical tradition presence light service discuss extinguish light show utilitarian origin new fire ceremony western rite origin deliberately adopt church part missionary_work depth survey ritual surround fire subsequent procession fire church reveal heritage different cultural liturgical tradition threefold production fire link triple performance new fire ceremony integrate liturgy common_theme light former