Good Friday/ Viernes Santo
March 29, 2024
12pm - Worship
7:00pm - Worship
Tenebrae: The Service of Darkness
The Service of Darkness is a service held on Good Friday evening in which the progressive extinguishing of candles represents the snuffing out of the life of Christ. After recalling the last hours of the Savior’s life in the Gospel of John, worshippers come to stand at the foot of the cross. They remember the physical and spiritual torment Jesus endured as he atoned for the sins of the world. The sounds and sights of Tenebrae mean to be austere and stark, but the service is never without hope and anticipation. As worship nears an end, a remaining candle, a symbol of our Lord himself, is carried out. The silence is broken with a loud, resounding noise—the strepitus—that foreshadows the rending of Christ’s tomb in triumph on Easter morning. With quiet drama the candle is brought back because even on Good Friday, worship honors a living Christ.
Symbolic Silence - The mood of the service is most solemn, encouraging the worshipers to reflect deeply upon their own life in the light of the Passion of our Lord. No closing blessing is pronounced and the congregation disperses into the night, leaving the darkened church in silence, yet remembering the Light which lingers and casts hope through the gloom of Good Friday.
Tenebrae: La Misa de la Oscuridad
La Misa de la Oscuridad es un servicio para el Viernes Santo en la que la progresiva extinción de las velas representa la extinción de la vida de Cristo. Después de recordar las últimas horas de vida del Salvador en el Evangelio de San Juan, los fieles llegan a estar al pie de la cruz. Se acuerdan del tormento físico y el tormento espiritual que Jesús soportó cuando el pagó por los pecados del mundo. Los sonidos y las vistas de la Misa de la Oscuridad son austeras y duras, pero la misa no es sin esperanza y anticipación. Cuando el culto se acerca su fin una sola vela se apaga. La vela simboliza el fin de la vida de Cristo. El silencio se rompe con un gran sonido que prefigura el desgarramiento de la tumba de Cristo en el triunfo de la mañana de la Pascua. Con drama silencioso la vela otra vez se enciende porque cada culto cristiano, aun Viernes Santo, celebra un Cristo vivo.