The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music cordially invites you to the final event of its 2024–2025 Public Lecture and Concert Series.

Tenebrae: The Church’s “Office of the Dead” for Christ Crucified
Lecture, James Monti (Dunwoodie, New York)
Saturday, April 12, 10:00 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT)

From at least as far back as the sixth century, the Church has begun her daily worship on the three days of the Easter Triduum with a unique solemnization of the Divine Office known as Tenebrae, a sung liturgy hewn from the Scriptural prophecies of the Passion to form a veritable “Office of the Dead” in which the Church mourns the death of Christ. The sacred texts of this office inspired a priceless treasury of plainchant and later a vast corpus of polyphonic settings, particularly for the Scriptural centerpiece of Tenebrae, the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Our purpose will be to explore the history, the meaning, the music and the striking ritual actions of this profoundly moving office, which in recent years has undergone an amazing resurgence, fostered by the magnetic appeal of its compelling sights and soundscape.

The lecture is available live via Zoom. An RSVP is required, and space is limited. The lecture is available for free, but if your means allow we are grateful for a donation to support the work of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music.

RSVP here.

About the Lecturer

A member of the staff of the Corrigan Memorial Library of Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York, James Monti has authored several books, including A Sense of the Sacred: Roman Catholic Worship in the Middle Ages (Ignatius Press, 2012), The King’s Good Servant but God’s First: The Life and Writings of St. Thomas More (Ignatius Press, 1997), and The Week of Salvation: History and Traditions of Holy Week (Our Sunday Visitor, 1993). He is also is a columnist for The Wanderer and an essayist and Gregorian hymns translator for Magnificat.