Good Friday Choral Tenebrae

In-person and on-line

Our evening service begins with a brief prayer and a reading from Isaiah, foretelling the Messiah and his suffering. The narrative is read from John’s gospel, interlacing the story from Jesus’ arrest to his burial with music from the choir and congregation, responding to and amplifying the spoken text with compositions and hymns by a variety of composers. The room gradually darkens until the last lighted candle is taken from the room, signifying Jesus’ death. Shortly, the candle returns in hope of resurrection as choir and congregation sing the Solemn Reproaches of Christ from the Cross by Witte.

This 9^th century text expresses Christ’s sorrow for humanity’s betrayal and rejection, contrasting God’s saving acts with human sin. Each reproach highlights a gift from God (e.g., leading people from Egypt, feeding with manna) followed by a sharp contrast of human faithlessness (e.g., “but you have prepared a cross for your Savior”). The service ends with the Lord’s Prayer and the Adoration of the Cross, when you are invited to reverence the cross as you leave: standing, kneeling, praying, touching it, or, in the 6th or 7th century tradition, kissing it.