Tenebrae...

...is the Church's traditional Office for Holy Week. Westminster Cathedral gave us a foretaste of it this week, with the most glorious and dramatic Tenebrae you could imagine - the great cathedral darkening as the tall candles were snuffed out one by one, the music soaring to the vast domes, the night sky visible beyond, an absolute and utter silence as the sharp loud clatter of the Strepitus ended and the solitary candle re-emerged to remind us of Christ. As we approach the great drama of Passiontide, here it was, utterly awesome. The great crowd departed in silence.