Aurora consists at
Tenebrae of three _nocturns_. Each of these is composed of three
appropriate psalms with their anthems, followed by three lessons taken
from scripture or the fathers. Immediately after matins, Lauds or
the praises of God are sung: they consist of five psalms besides the
_Benedictus_ or canticle of Zachary, to which succeeds the _Miserere_
or 50th psalm. Some of the short prayers usually said are omitted: for
the church during this season of mourning strips her liturgy as well
as her altars of their usual ornaments[48].

[Sidenote: Extinction of the lights.]

A triangular candlestick, upon which are placed fifteen candles,
corresponding to the number of psalms recited before the _Miserere_,
is peculiar to this solemn office, and is placed at the epistle-side
of the altar. After each psalm one of the candles is extinguished by
a Master of ceremonies, and after the _Benedictus_ the candle placed
on the top of the triangular candlestick is not extinguished, but is
concealed behind the altar and brought out at the end of the service;
while that canticle is sung, the six candles on the altar also are
extinguished, as well as those above the _cancellata_ or rails[49].

[Sidenote: Meaning of this ceremony.]

Lamps and candelabra were presented to the sanctuary by the faithful
during the first ages of persecution; and in more tranquil times to
the basilicas by Constantine and others who erected or dedicated them.
They were lighted, as S. Jerome observes, in the day time "not to
drive away darkness, but as a sign of joy": and therefore the custom
of gradually extinguishing them at the office of Tenebrae we may
justly consider with Amalarius as a sign of mourning, or of the
sympathy of the church with her divine and suffering Spouse. The
precise number of lights is determined by that of the psalms, which
is the same as at ordinary matins of three nocturns.

The custom of concealing behind the altar during the last part of the
office the last and most elevated candle, and of bringing it forward
burning at the end of the service, is a manifest allusion to the death
and resurrection of Christ, whose light, as Micrologus observes, is
represented by our burning tapers. "I am the light of the world". John
VIII. 12[50]. In the same manner the other candles extinguished one
after another may represent the prophets successively put to death
before their divine Lord: and if we consider that the psalms of the
_old T