Tenebrae 

Wednesday, April 8, 2020
A service for at home use during quarantine

Welcome. This online service is designed for you to pray the Tenebrae service, listening to the psalms and anthems through recordings embedded throughout.

Before you begin,  prepare at home by gathering six candles, or identifying lamps or lights around your living space, that may be extinguished or darkened, one by one. Also find an object with which to make loud sound  (may be as simple as a baking sheet and metal spoon).

The service of Tenebrae (the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows”) is taken from early Christian services, and provides an extended meditation upon the events in Christ’s life between the Last Supper and the Resurrection. Using Scripture passages, music, and light, the story of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion is retold in dramatic fashion. 

As we remember Jesus’ experience of suffering, we are moved to lift up the suffering and darkness of our present time to God. During the service, candles are gradually extinguished, and the lights dimmed, until only a single candle, considered a symbol of Christ, remains.

Toward the end of the service this candle is hidden, signifying the apparent victory of the forces of evil. At the very end, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2), the hidden candle is restored to its place, symbolizing the triumph of Christ over death. 

MATINS

PSALM 69: 1-10

Zeal for your house has eaten me up;
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked: 
From the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.

The first candle is extinguished.

LAMENTATIONS 1:1-14

Aleph. How solitary lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She that was queen among the cities has now become a vassal.

Beth. She weeps bitterly in the night, tears run down her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.

Gimel. Judah has gone into the misery of exile and of hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; all her pursuers overtook her in the midst of her anguish.

Daleth. The roads to Zion mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan and sigh; her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

He. Her adversaries have become her masters, her enemies prosper; because the Lord has punished her for the multitude of her rebellions; her children are gone, driven away as captives by the enemy. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God!

Waw. And from Daughter Zion all her majesty has departed; her princes have become like stags that can find no pasture, and that run without strength before the hunter.

Zayin. Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and bitterness all the precious things that were hers from the days of old; when her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her; the adversary saw her, and mocked at her downfall.

Heth. Jerusalem has sinned greatly, therefore she has become a thing unclean; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; and now she sighs, and turns her face away.

Teth. Uncleanness clung to her skirts, she took no thought of her doom; therefore her fall is terrible, she has no comforter. "O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed." Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God!

Yodh. The adversary has stretched out his hand to seize all her precious things; she has seen the Gentiles invade her sanctuary, those whom you had forbidden to enter your congregation.

Kaph. All her people groan as they search for bread; they sell their own children for food to revive their strength. "Behold, O Lord, and consider, for I am now beneath contempt!"

Lamedh. Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted, on the day of his burning anger.

Mem. From on high he sent fire, into my bones it descended; he spread a net for my feet, and turned me back; he has left me desolate and faint all the day long.

Nun. My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; their yoke is upon my neck; he has caused my strength to fail. The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand up. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God!

Responsory

Ecce vidimus eum

Lo, we have seen him without beauty or majesty,
with no looks to attract our eyes.
He bore our sins and grieved for us,
He was wounded for our transgressions,
and by his scourging we are healed.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows:

The second candle is extinguished.

PSALM 54:1-7

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and he opened not his mouth.
He has made me dwell in darkness:
Like the dead of long ago.

The third candle is extinguished.

HEBREWS 4:15-5:10; 9:11-15a

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 

And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that are to come, then, through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 

Responsory

When the Lord was buried, they sealed the tomb, 
rolling a great stone to the door of the tomb; 
they stationed soldiers to guard him.
The chief priests gathered before Pilate, and petitioned him:
And they stationed soldiers to guard him.

The fourth candle is extinguished. 

LAUDS

PSALM 63:1-8

God did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all.

The fifth candle is extinguished.

During the singing of the following Canticle all other lights in the church are extinguished.

THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH

The final candle is carried out and church lights extinguished.

Please kneel or be seated as you are able for the singing.

Christus Factus Est

A time of silence is observed.

PSALM 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God, 
according to your loving-kindness; 
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness 
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, 
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only have I sinned 
and done what is evil in your sight.

5 And so you are justified when you speak 
and upright in your judgment.
6 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, 
a sinner from my mother’s womb.

7 For behold, you look for truth deep within me, 
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
8 Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; 
wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.

9 Make me hear of joy and gladness, 
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10 Hide your face from my sins 
and blot out all my iniquities.

11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
and renew a right spirit within me.
12 Cast me not away from your presence 
and take not your holy Spirit from me.

13 Give me the joy of your saving help again 
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
14 I shall teach your ways to the wicked, 
and sinners shall return to you.   

15 Deliver me from death, O God, 
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
O God of my salvation.
16 Open my lips, O Lord, 
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

17 Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice, 
but you take no delight in burnt-offerings.
18 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; 
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Silence

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold us, your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross.

Nothing further is said; but a noise is made, and the remaining candle is brought from its hiding place and replaced on the stand.

The service ends in silence.