Anticipating Worship: Good Friday Service of Darkness (Tenebrae), April 18, 2025—Signs of Salvation: The Cross

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Why is it so dark?

Tenebrae (ten’ eh bray) is an ancient rite of the Church. The Latin word “Tenebrae” means “darkness”. During this service, the candles will be extinguished, and lights will be progressively dimmed. In this, we remember that God the Father cloaked the land with darkness during the death of his Son (Matthew 27:45).

This service is a time for personal meditation and prayer. There is no preservice music. The altar remains stripped bare. There are moments of silence to reflect on the magnitude of Christ’s sacrificial love. But our remembrance of Jesus’ death, while solemn, is not a message of gloom. Rather, it is an opportunity for adoration, giving thanks to God for the Son who offered himself for the life of the world, “loving us to the end.”

Not only do the seven words spoken from the cross feature prominently in the service, but so also do the details of Jesus’ burial at the end of the service. The cross proclaims a message of unmistakable power. But the cave proclaims a message of irrefutable completion. Jesus

died and was buried. He did not slip into a coma. And while his enemies spent their sabbath still plotting against him, Jesus rested from all his work.

What’s that sound?

This “final” moment of the story at the tomb is punctuated in a special way. In the midst of total darkness, a loud sound, called the “strepitus” is heard. (Strepitus is the Latin word for a “strike” as in a percussion instrument.) This sound traditionally symbolizes the earthquake that followed Christ's death. Some also interpret it as the sound of the stone that sealed the tomb falling into place, or even the sound of the tomb breaking open in the predawn darkness of Easter, signifying that death had no power over him (Romans 6:9). This

foreshadowing of Easter joy is also shown in the return of the seventh candle to the candle stand, where it awaits us on Easter morning. In some traditions, the gradual extinguishing of candles during the Tenebrae service symbolizes the waning faith of the apostles, with the

final candle often representing Christ. The return of this candle signifies the hope of the Resurrection.

For Christians, the tomb where Jesus was laid shows that it [the story of God’s forgiveness] is finished. But it also shows that the life of the Christian is just beginning.

Want to hear more? See you this Good Friday for the Service of Darkness (Tenebrae) at 7:00 p.m.