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: