[Magdalen] Tenebrae

[Scott Knitter]

On Thu, Apr 2, 2015 at 8:26 AM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com> wrote:
> "The *strepitus* (Latin for "great noise"), made by slamming a book shut,
> banging a hymnal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymnal> or breviary
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breviary> against the pew, or stomping on the
> floor, symbolizes the earthquake that followed Christ's death, although it
> may have originated as a simple signal to depart."

In monasteries, it has often been the practice for the superior to
knock on the book rack or some other wood thing to signal the start or
end of something, such as the end of silent prayers before an office
and that it's time to stand and begin the office. At St. Gregory's
Abbey in Michigan, the abbot actually has a gavel that he taps on a
small block of wood.

One year in our previous parish, the organist did the "earthquake"
noise by applying each of his forearms to one of the keyboards of the
organ, with all the stops pulled (so maximum volume). That's the time
when Florence in the choir exclaimed, "Sh*t!"


-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA