Please join us on Wednesday, March 27 (Spy Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m. for our Tenebrae Service during Holy Week. It will take place at the St. Elizabeth campus. Tenebrae means “darkness”, and consists of the chanting of Matins and Lauds of the Divine Office on the final three days of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Matins and Lauds consist of Psalms, Antiphons, and readings highlighting Holy Week's sacred mysteries. The mood of the celebration focuses on the death of Jesus and is consequently very somber.

A special candelabra, called a Tenebrae hearse, is displayed, holding 15 candles. During the liturgy, the candles are extinguished one at a time after the chanting of the Psalms. The final candle, representing Christ, is not extinguished but hidden behind the altar after the last Scripture readings. A final prayer is said in the darkness and the liturgy ends in silence. The last candle is then brought back into view. The faithful leave in silence and the mood is again very mournful, reflecting on the death of Christ and the darkness that covered the world on Good Friday.

It is a beautiful part of Holy Week that immerses the Christian faithful into the death of Christ and makes the lighting of candles at the Easter Vigil even more dramatic. During Tenebrae, the church is shrouded in darkness. The Easter Vigil begins in that same darkness, but the light of Christ, symbolized by the Paschal candle, expels the shadows and the entire church becomes ablaze with light when the candle reaches the sanctuary. This is the good news of our faith. However dark our world may get, the light of Christ conquers the darkness and leads us all to Eternal Life.