Verona church to hold ancient candlelit Tenebrae service commemorating Christ’s Passion (Lent)

Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Verona is bringing back the liturgy of Tenebrae — an ancient service that commemorates Christ’s Passion with candles, readings, and music — on Spy Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m. (Spy Wednesday is when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.) 

Tenebrae is one of the most ancient services in the Catholic Church, dating back to the fifth century, and includes a special form of Matins and Lauds that occurs only at the Holy Triduum.  

Many may not have heard of Tenebrae because the Church revised the liturgical book in the 1950s. Tenebrae was the celebration of the liturgical hours of Matins and Lauds on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. With the 1955 revision of Holy Week, Tenebrae disappeared. 

“We are giving people a special and unique way to center themselves during Holy Week,” said Vincent Carr, music ministry director at Our Lady of the Lake. “I don’t believe another church within the Archdiocese holds this service.”  

In Latin, Tenebrae means “darkness” and traditionally took place over three days, said Carr.  

It is technically a funeral service for Christ. Traditionally, 15 candles are extinguished throughout the service as Matins and Lauds are sung and read in an unlit church. The candles are placed on a candelabra or hearse. The candles represent Jesus surrounded by his followers, including the Marys. After each reading, a candle is extinguished, representing the pain Jesus felt on the cross.  

Lamentations by Jeremiah about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem are also read, exemplifying that Christ is the new temple and that His body will rise again. The middle candle, which symbolizes Christ, is taken down from the candelabra or hearse and hidden. It later appears, burning bright at the end of the service. 

At the end of the service when Jesus meets his death, a loud noise called the strepitus rings out through the church, representing the agony of Christ’s death. Some say the strepitus replicates Christ’s last words, “It is finished” and the temple veil being ripped. 

“The ending is visceral,” Carr said. 

This will be the third year that Our Lady of Lake is offering the service post-pandemic, but Carr said the church has a long history of holding Tenebrae services. 

Like other contemporary parishes, Our Lady of the Lake is flexible and modern with its Tenebrae service, Carr added. 

The Verona parish uses a lot more than the traditional number of 15 candles so the altar and the steps to the sanctuary can be covered in lights. Carr said the church going from being lit to darkened as the candles are blown out symbolizes mourning as Christ’s light is extinguished. The melodies for scripture carried by the cantors are “quite tragic and heighten the aspect of lament and mourning,” Carr said. 

Carr said the audience should expect to be transported by the aethereal atmosphere and music. 

“The service doesn’t require much for the audience except for listening in a meditative space,” said Carr, adding that the service is accessible for secular audiences. All are welcome.  

“It really is a rare opportunity to witness an authentic expression of the Passion of Christ,” he said.