Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Good Friday Franklin Ecumenical Tenebrae Service - video



For the second year in a row the Good Friday Ecumenical Service was held utilizing the form of Tenebrae.  This service of light fading into darkness while the accompanying Passion narrative is read and successive candles are snuffed out symbolizes the growing darkness in the world as the Son of God progresses further from suffering to death.  The service reaches its climax with the reading of the death of Jesus, the putting out of the last candle, and the removal of the central Christ candle, the remaining light in the room, and then the closing of the Word of God.  In our service, this time of deep reflection is made more moving by the string quartet performing the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.  After this, the Christ candle is returned to symbolize the hope of the resurrection to come, a final reading is given, and the people depart in contemplative silence.

The video is of course dark, as the room was, but the moving readings combined with the powerful musical string piece certainly still carry emotional weight.

To watch the video, click on the link below: