This year, St. Francis Xavier Parish will bring back an ancient Church tradition of celebrating Tenebrae on Wednesday of Holy Week.

The word Tenebrae comes from the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows.” In another age, monks changed the ancient psalms and lamentations in the darkness of the night or the very early morning. These early offices of the Sacred Triduum began to be anticipated the evenings before Thursday and Friday of Holy Week.

In modern liturgical practice, Tenebrae is sung only on Wednesday evening.

A singular feature of this service is the fact that, as the chants and readings progress, candles are gradually extinguished. Here, in the darkened church, we will extinguish all the lights until only one candle remains.

For a brief time – for the length of the Lord’s Prayer – we will remain in darkness, meditating on the mystery of Christ’s death and the apparent victory of darkness and evil on our lives, only to be startled by a loud noise symbolizing the earthquake at the time of the resurrection. The candle then reappears and, by its light, we pray and leave quietly, anticipating the events to unfold in the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter).

The atmosphere of this service is monastic and invites your participation and quiet reflection. Music and text are designed to speak symbolically of our lives identified in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Join us at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, for this very special Tenebrae service.