Original

-a46-
fidence based on the temporal death which the Son of
God willed to suffer for the salvation of us all. In the
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE, the priest taking in at a glance
the whole congregation gathered round the altar, im
plores the Lord to look down upon them from heaven,
because His divine Son, for this family, has delivered
Himself into the hands of the wicked, and for their salva
tion has endured suffering and death upon the Cross.
This same prayer will be said after the Miserere and will
conclude all the Hours of the Office during the last three
days of Holy Week.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Office of Tenebrse
The Office of Tenebrae is the Office which is sung, not
like Matins during the course of the night, but at night
fall on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Holy Week.
This Office is commenced at an hour that will allow of
it ending a little after sunset when darkness is beginning
to spread over the earth. The diminishing of the light
which takes place as the Office proceeds, symbolizes the
eclipse which the glory of the Son of God suffered in the
ignominies of His Passion, the abandonment of His
apostles who fled when our Lord delivered Himself
into the hands of His enemies, and finally the great
sadness which overshadows the Church during the