Tenebrae
A Service of Shadows
The service of Tenebrae, meaning “darkness” or “shadows,” has been practiced by the church since medieval times. Once a service for the monastic community, Tenebrae later became an important part of the worship of the common folk during Holy Week. We join Christians of many generations throughout the world in using the liturgy of Tenebrae.
Tenebrae is a prolonged meditation on Christ’s suffering. Readings trace the story of Christ’s passion, music portrays his pathos, and the power of silence and darkness suggests the drama of this momentous day. As lights are extinguished, we ponder the depth of Christ’s suffering and death; we remember the cataclysmic nature of his sacrifice as we hear the overwhelming sound of the “strepitus”; and through the return of the small but persistent flame of the Christ candle at the conclusion of the service, we anticipate the joy of ultimate victory.
Prelude ‘It is finished’ Charles Tournemire
Foreshadowing
Reading (Isaiah 53:3-6, Luke 24:13-19a)
He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
Reader 1
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Reader 2
Silence
“What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there and in these days?”
[slowly]
He asked them, “What things?”
Firstcandleisextinguished
Silence
Opening Sentences
Officiant Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. People Amen.
Officiant Blessed be the name of the Lord our God, People whoredeemsusfromsinanddeath.
Officiant For us and for our salvation, Christ became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
People BlessedbethenameoftheLord.
The Shadow of Betrayal
Reading (Matthew 26:20-25, Psalm 22:1-2)
Reader 1
When it was evening, Jesus took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ And they became greatly distressed and
began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ He answered, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ He replied, ‘You have said so.’
Reader 2
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
Hymn OutofthedepthsIcall Hymnal 666
Secondcandleisextinguished. Silence
The Shadow of Agony of Spirit and Arrest
Reading (Mark 14:32-46, Psalm 22:3-5)
Reader 3
They went to a place called Gat Sh’manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Kepha, Ya’akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him; and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him: “Abba! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want.” He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kepha, “Shim’on, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test - the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”
Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words; and again he came and found them sleeping, their eyes were so very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him.
The third time, he came and said to them, “For now, go on sleeping, take your rest… There, that’s enough! The time has come. Look! The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let’s go. Here comes my betrayer.”
While Yeshua was still speaking, Y’hudah (one of the twelve) came, and with him a crowd carrying swords and clubs, from the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders. The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Grab him, and take him away under guard.” As he arrived, he went right up to Yeshua, said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. Then they laid hold of Yeshua and arrested him.
Reader 4
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Thirdcandleisextinguished. Silence
The Shadow of Surrender
Reading (II, 16 from Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, by Rainer Maria Rilke) Reader 4
How surely gravity’s law, strong as an ocean current, takes hold of even the smallest thing and pulls it toward the heart of the world. Each thing each stone, blossom, child is held in place. Only we, in our arrogance, push out beyond what we each belong to for some empty freedom.
If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves in knots of our own making and struggle, lonely and confused.
So, like children, we begin again to learn from the things, because they are in God’s heart; they have never left him. This is what the things can teach us: to fall, patiently to trust our heaviness. Even a bird has to do that before he can fly.
Reading (Luke 22:54-62, Psalm 22:6) Reader 5
Then took they Jesus, and led him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, “This man was also with him.” And he denied it, saying, “Woman, I know him not.”
And after a little while another saw him, and said, “Thou art also of them.” And Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, “Of a truth, this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.” And Peter said, “Man, I know not what thou sayest!” And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, “Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”
And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Reader 6
But I am a worm and no man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
Fourthcandleisextinguished. Silence
The Shadow of Accusation
Reading (Matthew 27:11-29, Psalm 22:7-8) Reader 6
Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus said, ‘You say so.’ But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?’ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.
While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.’
Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ And they said, ‘Barabbas.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ All of them said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ Then he asked, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be crucified!’
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’
Reader 7
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
Hymn Tomockyourreign,OdearestLord Hymnal
170
Fifthcandleisextinguished.Then,Silence.
The Shadow of Crucifixion and Humiliation
Reading (Mark 15:16-32a, Psalm 22:9-13) Reader 7
When they had finished ridiculing Yeshua, the soldiers ripped off the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away to be nailed to the cross.
A certain man from Cyrene, Shim’on, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country; and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Yeshua to a place called Golgotha (which means “place of a skull”), and they gave him wine spiced with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. Then they nailed him to the cross; and they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to determine what each man should get. It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the cross. Over his head, the written notice of the charge against him read:
“This is Yeshua, King of the Yehudim”
On crosses with him they placed two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. People passed by and hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! So you can destroy the Temple, can you, and rebuilt it in three days? Save yourself and come down from the cross!” Likewise, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers made fun of him, saying to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” and “So he’s the Messiah, is he? The Kind of Isra’el? Let him come down now from the cross. If we see that, then we’ll believe him!”
Reader 8
Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; They open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
Organ Solo DaJesusandemKreuzeStund J. S. Bach
Sixthcandleisextinguished. Silence
The Shadow of Death
Reading (Matthew 27:45-54, Psalm 22:14-18) Reader 8
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, “This man calleth for Elias.” And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
The rest said, “Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.”
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up his spirit. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Reader 9
I am poured out like water [water is poured], and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
My strength is dried up like a potsherd [a ceramic pot is broken], and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and my feet -
I can count all my bones - they stare and gloat over me;
They divide my garments among them [fabric is torn], and for my clothing they cast lots. Seventhcandleisextinguished. Silence
The Shadow of Sheol
Reading (I, 50 from Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, by Rainer Maria Rilke) Reader 9
I come home from the soaring in which I lost myself. I was song, and the refrain which is God is still roaring in my ears.
Now I am still and plain: No more words.
To the others I was like a wind: I made them shake.
I’d gone very far, as far as the angels, and high, where light thins into nothing.
But deep in the darkness is God…
The Shadow of Burial
Reading (John 19:38-42, Psalm 22:19-21, Revelation 5:4-6a) Officiant
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
Christcandleisremoved. Strepitus,followedbylongsilence
Silence
Officiant
But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
Silence
Reader 10
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders,
[slowly, (as Christ candle is restored)]
stood a Lamb, as though it had been slain. Longsilence
Departure
A Child May Christ Jesus, who for our sakes became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, keep us and strengthen us
People Amen.
Pleasekeepareverentsilenceasyoudepart.
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