The Tenebrae service sets the events of Holy Week before us in a dramatic way as we hear the story of the Passion of Christ from the gospels.
After each of the seven readings, one of the candles on the altar is extinguished. The seventh candle, which symbolises the Christ life, is then carried from the chapel, leaving us in total darkness. After a time of quiet we say the Lord's prayer (or Prologue to St John's gospel) together. Then the Christ candle is brought back, and we rejoice in the resurrection of love and live and light.
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Walking into the service with the altar dressed very simply. The candles predominate - no flowers, only fronds of palms from the Palm Sunday service. The altar cloth is indigo with the altar backed with blue.
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The Office of the Tenebrae - calls us to gather in recognition of an ancient and mystical esoteric tradition - to take the path less traveled, the path of light entering into darkness, the path of Christ our high priest - who surrendered the fullness of his divinity to share the fullness of our humanity.
Father of us all -
We choose again, anew, on this night
To dedicate our purpose and our footsteps
Attuned to the heartbeat of your Son.
May this gathering of remembrance and reverence
Attune us to the call of our hearts.
The call that draws us
To be with him,
To remain with him,
As we set our face
To the hill and way of the cross.
May these words and symbols
Fill us with a real courage and resolve
To know fully the light of his truth
The power of his divinity revealed
In fulfillment of your will, unto death.
Open to us a glimpse of the portals
Of such an immense and unfathomable love
As we prepare ourselves
To be a worthy sacrifice
For the light which will consecrate and
Pour unction on our world.
In Christ's name we pray - so shall it be.
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The seven readings and the extinguishing of the candles. |
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The musicians have been playing and singing.
All seven candles are alight. |
This moving and deeply significant service is very difficult to portray on a web page. To even capture the tone of the service is almost impossible on these pages. The rhythmic quality of the service is reflected below with the reference to the Bible reading, photograph of the next snuffed candle and some of the words of the musical piece following the snuffing of the candle.
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First reading:
Matthew 26: 36-56 - His agony and arrest.
The first candle is extinguished. |
It was for me
To the silent garden came Jesus with his disciples
To the garden of Gethsemene
Said he then
Sit ye here
Yonder will I go to pray
Tarry here and watch with me one hour.
In dark Gethsemene, there prayed the Son of God
Who said, 'Thy will be done,' and dared receive the bitter cup
And he, the sinless One, suffered all for sinful man
And his grief and pain
It was for me
In dark Gethsemene.
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Second Reading:
Matthew 26: 57-75 - Trial before Caiaphas.
The second candle is extinguished. |
He stood before the court
He stood before the court, on trial instead of us;
He met its power to hurt,
condemned to face the cross:
Our king, accused of treachery;
Our God, abused for blasphemy!
The sentence must be passed,
the unknown prisoner killed
the price is paid at last, the law of God fulfilled:
he takes our blame, and from that day
the accuser's claim is wiped away.
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Third Reading:
John 18: 28-40 - Trial before Pilate 
The third candle is extinguished.
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Bitter was the night
Bitter was the night,
thought the cock would crow forever,
bitter was the night before the break of day.
Jesus he came by, but I said I didn't know him,
bitter was the night, before the break of day.
Told them all a lie, and I said it three times over
bitter was the night, before the break of day.
Judas died of shame, handed himself up in an alder
bitter was the night, before the break of day.
Thought I'd do the same,
thought the night would last forever
bitter was the night, before the break of day.
Bitter was the night,
thought there'd never be a morning
bitter was the night, before the break of day.
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Fourth Reading:
John 19: 1-16 - His scourging and condemnation . 
The fourth candle is extinguished. |
O Sacred head!
O sacred head sore wounded,
with grief and shame weighted down.
How scornfully surrounded with thorns,
they only crown;
How art thou pale with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn;
How does that visage languish,
which once was bright as morn!
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Fifth Reading:
John 19: 17-27 - His crucifixion on Calvary 
The fifth candle is extinguished
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Jesus crucified
O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died, on the cross.
How can we pass by and not care?
It was for our sins that nailed him there
on the cross.
O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died, on the cross.
See the crowd unpitying stare:
'Forgive them, Father' is his prayer
on the cross.
O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died, on the cross.
Thorns the only crown he must wear,
thirst and wound our King must bear
on the cross.
O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died, on the cross.
See our high priest make his great prayer,
himself the victim, bleeding bare
on the cross.
O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died, on the cross.
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Sixth Reading:
Luke 23: 39-49 - His death on Calvary 
The sixth candle is extinguished.
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There was great darkness
There was great darkness over all the earth.
There was great darkness over all the earth.
At the ninth hour Jesus cried
Cried with a load voice
Saying 'Eloi Eloi Lamsabachtani
Lamsabachtani
Lamsabachtani'
My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? |
Seventh Reading:
John 19: 31-42 - His burial in the tomb |
Darkness was over all
Darkness was over all when crucified was our Jesus,
Our Jesus, our Jesus,
And at about the ninth hour
Jesus cried out, cried out with a loud voice
Ah my Father, Ah my Father
Oh why hast Thou my forsaken,
Hast Thou forsaken me?
Then with a loud voice
Jesus cried out saying
Father, into Thy hands Lord,
Do I commend now my spirit.
And bowing low his head
He yielded up his spirit. |
The Christ candle is carried from the chapel. |
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We experience the total darkness.
We say together the Prologue to St John
and then the Christ candle is brought back in. |
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The Chalice Prayer is sung
Father, we raise our whole being to you,
A vessel emptied of self.
Accept, O Lord, this our emptiness
And so fill us with yourself,
Your life, your light, your love,
That these your gracious gifts may radiate through us
And overflow the chalice of our heart
Into the hearts of all with whom we come in contact,
Revealing unto them the beauty of your joy and wholeness
And the serenity of your peace which nothing can destroy.
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As we are now filled
With the unfathomable presence of love
Within the depths of our being,
Let us all together and each one,
Keep with us, a vision
To seek out the Christ,
Journeying each moment, just a little ahead of us.
Let us do this, daily, as we take up our life,
and offer our deeds and consciousness in love,
as he did.
Let us each day, fill ourselves with the knowledge, that in him is life,
And that life is the light of the world.
This same light, his light,
That we are called to shine in the darkness,
even though the darkness will not, cannot, comprehend it.
As we make our way -
May we bear the divine will of his Father in our being
And may we seek earnestly and with courageous heart,
to live in the footsteps of the Christ
And may we carry and be carried by the fragrance of the rose,
as we bear it's promise to the place of the cross.
So shall it be. |
*Works from Rev Mario Schoenmaker
Used with permission
Antoinette Schoenmaker ©
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