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Rh choir sings the well-known hymn of the Blessed Sacrament, "Pange Lingua." When the chapel is reached the bishop places the chalice containing the host upon the Altar and incenses the sacred host. The deacon then replaces it in the tabernacle prepared, and after a short prayer in silence, the procession returns to the sanctuary, and Vespers are immediately begun. This office, which on Sundays and Feast days, is recited with so much solemnity is on Thursday and Friday deprived of everything that betokens joy. Instead of the magnificent Gregorian chant, the psalms have not even inflection. The Church, as a disconsolate spouse, mourns the loss of Jesus. The psalms of the Vespers are chosen to commemorate the Passion of Our Lord. After the Vespers, the bishop accompanied by his ministers goes to the Altar and removes all cloths and ornaments, signifying the suspension of the Holy Sacrifice. In Rome, the canons and other functionaries of St. Peter's, after the office of Tenebrae wash the High Altar with wine and water in commemoration of that act of humility by which Our Redeemer washed His disciples' feet. The 21st Psalm with its antiphon "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots," gives the key to the meaning of this ceremony of stripping the Altars, because Jesus is in the hands of His enemies, the Jews, who are about to strip Him of His garments. All the other Altars of the Church are likewise denuded, and an air of desolation is about the Temple of God. The tabernacle is left open to show that its Divine Guest has departed. In many Catholic countries and especially at Rome, the custom of washing the feet of twelve poor men is yet observed in commemoration of the humility of Our Lord in washing the feet of His disciples. In the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, we have a beautiful record of her manner of observing this day. [See Montalembert's Life, p. 67.]

It is the custom among Catholics to visit the churches in their vicinity where the Blessed