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Introduction:

Tenebrae is a Latin word meaning “shadows or darkness.” It designates a special form of prayer that is prayed by the Church on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The service consists of the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, the daily prayer of the Church. While for several centuries this form of prayer was understood to be the prayer of clergy and religious, the Second Vatican Council made it clear that it belongs to all the Church’s faithful:

“Wherever possible…groups of the faithful should celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours communally in church. This especially applies to parishes…. The laity must learn above all how in the liturgy they are adoring God the Father in spirit and in truth; they should bear in mind that through public worship and prayer they reach all humility and can contribute significantly to the salvation of the whole world.”-General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours #s 21, 27

The Tenebrae Service is dramatically marked by the extinguishing of the seven candles placed in a candle stand in the sanctuary. Originally, the service began before dawn, with candles lighting the darkness. As daylight became stronger, fewer candles were needed, and one by one they were put out. The gradual extinguishing of light, however, took on symbolic meaning associated with these solemn days of the Triduum. Over the centuries, as the Church commemorated the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the decreasing candlelight became a sign of the apparent triumph of evil and of the apparent failure of God’s plan of salvation.

At the great Easter Vigil, we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and evil. The light of the one Paschal Candle, the symbol of the risen Christ, is passed from one to another in the darkness of night. This growing light, which shatters the dark, signifies the good over evil and the spread of the reign of God.

Adapted from Tenebrae: Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for Good Friday and Holy Saturday, prepared by the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of New York, 1990

Good Friday Office of Readings

Celebrant: Lord, open my lips. (on lips)
All: And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory

Antiphon

Reader: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.

Psalm 95

Reader: Come, let us sing to the Lord
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.

Let us greet Him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

All: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.

Reader: The Lord is our God, the mighty God, the great king over all the gods.

He holds in His hand the depths of the earth
and the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea, it belongs to Him,
the dry land too, for it was formed by His hands.

All: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.

Reader: Come, then, let us bow down and worship, bending the knee before the Lord, our Maker.

For He is our God and we are His people, the flock He shepherds.

All: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.

Reader: Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: “Do not grow stubborn,as your fathers did in the wilderness,
when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me,
although they had seen all of my works.

All: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.

Reader: Forty years I endured that generation.
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways. So I swore in my anger,
they shall not enter into my rest.’”
All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
Antiphon
All: Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood.
Hymn: O Sacred Head Surrounded
O sacred head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn!
Death’s pallid hue comes o’er thee,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel hosts adore thee,
And tremble as they gaze.

I see thy strength and vigor,All fading in the strife,And death with cruel rigor,Bereaving thee of life;O agony and dying!O love to sinners free!Jesus, all grace supplying,O turn thy face on me.
In this, thy bitter passion,Good Shepherd, think of meWith thy most sweet compassion,Unworthy though I be:

Beneath thy cross abiding
For ever would I rest,
In thy dear love confiding,
And with thy presence blest.

Be near when I am dying;
O show thy cross to me:
And to my succour flying,
Come, Lord, and set me free.
These eyes, new faith receiving,
From thee shall never move;
For he who dies believing,
Dies safely in thy love.

Psalmody

Antiphon 1:  Earthly kings rise up in revolt; princes conspire together against the Lord and against his anointed.

  • Psalm 2
  • The Messiah, king and conqueror
  • The rulers of the earth joined forces to overthrow Jesus, your anointed Son (Acts 4:27)

Why this tumult among nations,
among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
“Come, let us break their fetters,
come, let us cast off their yoke.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger,
his rage will strike them with terror.
“It is I who have set up my king on Zion,
my holy mountain.”

I will announce the decree of the Lord:

The Lord said to me: “You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I will bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.”

Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage
lest he be angry and you perish;
for suddenly his anger will blaze.

Blessed are they who put their trust in God. Glory…

Antiphon 1:  Earthly kings rise up in revolt; princes conspire together against the Lord and against his anointed.

1st Candle (lower left) is extinguished. Brief period of silence.

Antiphon 2:  They divided my garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing. 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.
O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;
I call by night and I find no peace.

Yet you, O God, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you set them free.
When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you they trusted and never in vain.

But I am a worm and no man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.
All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.

“He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend.”

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,
entrusted me to my mother’s breast.
To you I was committed from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not leave me alone in my distress;
Come close, there is none else to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me,
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.
Against me they open wide their jaws,
like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out,
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax,
it is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat,
my tongue cleaves to my jaws.

Many dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet
and lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones.
These people stare at me and gloat;
they divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.

O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of these dogs.
Save my life from the jaws of these lions,
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.  Glory…

Antiphon 2:  They divided my garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing. 

2nd Candle (lower right) is extinguished. Brief period of silence.

Antiphon 3:  They sought to take my life by violence. 

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.
Your arrows have sunk deep in me;
your hand has come down upon me.

Through your anger all my body is sick:
through my sin, there is no health in my limbs.
My guilt towers higher than my head;
it is a weight too heavy to bear.

My wounds are foul and festering,
the result of my own folly.
I am bowed and brought to my knees.
I go mourning all the day long.

All my frame burns with fever;
all my body is sick.
Spent and utterly crushed,
I cry aloud in anguish of heart.

O Lord, you know all my longing:
my groans are not hidden from you.
My heart throbs, my strength is spent;
the very light has gone from my eyes.

My friends avoid me like a leper;
those closest to me stand afar off.
Those who plot against my life lay snares;
those who seek my ruin speak of harm,
planning treachery all the day long.

But I am like the deaf who cannot hear,
like the dumb unable to speak.

I am like a man who hears nothing
in whose mouth is no defense.

I count on you, O Lord:
it is you, Lord God, who will answer.
I pray: Do not let them mock me,
those who triumph if my foot should slip.”

For I am on the point of falling
and my pain is always before me.
I confess that I am guilty
and my sin fills me with dismay.

My wanton enemies are numberless
and my lying foes are many.
They repay me evil for good
and attack me for seeking what is right.

O Lord, do not forsake me!
My God, do not stay afar off!
Make haste and come to my help,
O Lord, my God, my savior! Glory…

Antiphon 3:  They sought to take my life by violence. 

3rd Candle (center left) is extinguished. Brief period of silence

FIRST READING

From the letter to the Hebrews       9:11-28
By the shedding of his own blood, Christ, the high priest, entered the sanctuary once and for all

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be,  passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes  can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit  offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.  

For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised

eternal inheritance.  Now where there is a will, the death of the testator must be established. For a will takes effect only at death; it has no force while the testator is alive. Thus not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.  

When every commandment had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water and crimson wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is ‘the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined upon you.'” In the same way, he sprinkled also the tabernacle  and all the vessels of worship with blood.  According to the law almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  

Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified by these rites, but the heavenly things themselves by better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages  to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many,  will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

Brief period of silence

SECOND READING

From the Catecheses by St. John Chrysostom , bishop

The power of Christ’s blood

If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and

blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! As God then took a rib from Adam`s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and water after his own death.

Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.

Brief period of silence

Stand for Hymn

Korason Såntos, maila’ gue’ ham.
Yan i rainon-­mu, po’luyi ham.
Bo’bo’ guinaiya, gofli’e’ ham.
I korason-­mu, fa’nu’i ham.

O linangitan Guma’ Yu’os,
O adoråyon ha’of Jesus.
I korason-­mu sinen Yu’os,
Dinilok lånsa gi kilu’os.

Todu i te’lang gi tataotao.
Ha na’taimåktos, tumuna hao.
Rai i manånghet yan i taotao,
I korason-hu, hu nå’i hao!

SIT

PSALMODY

Antiphon 1:  God did not spare his Son, but gave him up to suffer for our sake.

Psalm 51

O God, have mercy on me

Your inmost being must be renewed, and you must put on the new man. (Ephesians 4:23-24)

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit,
a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favor to Zion:
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on your altar. Glory…

Psalm Prayer: Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations.

Antiphon 1:  God did not spare his Son, but gave him up to suffer for our sake.

4th Candle (center right) is extinguished. Brief period of silence

Antiphon 2:  Jesus Christ loved us, and poured out his own blood for us to wash away our sins.

Canticle  –  Habakkuk 3:2-4, 13a, 15-19

God comes to judge

Lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand. (Luke 21:28)

O Lord, I have heard your renown,
and feared, O Lord, your work.
In the course of the years revive it,

in the course of the years make it known;
in your wrath remember compassion!  

God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Covered are the heavens with his glory,
and with his praise the earth is filled.  
His splendor spreads like the light;
rays shine forth from beside him,
where his power is concealed.  
You come forth to save your people,
to save your anointed one

You tread the sea with your steeds
amid the churning of the deep waters.
I hear, and my body trembles;
at the sound, my lips quiver.

Decay invades my bones,
my legs tremble beneath me.
I await the day of distress
that will come upon the people who attack us.  

For though the fig tree blossom not
nor fruit be on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive fail
and the terraces produce no nourishment,

Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,  
Yet will I rejoice in the Lord
and exult in my saving God.  

God, my Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet swift as those of hinds
and enables me to go upon the heights.  Glory…

Antiphon 2:  Jesus Christ loved us, and poured out his own blood for us to wash away our sins.

5th Candle (top left) is extinguished. Brief period of silence

Antiphon 3:  We worship your cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify your holy resurrection, for the wood of the cross has brought joy to the world.

Psalm 147:12-20 

The restoration of Jerusalem

Come, I will show you the bride of the Lamb (Revelation 21:9)

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Zion praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.

He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at his touch;
he sends forth his word and it melts them:
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.

He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.   Glory…

Psalm Prayer: Lord, you established peace within the borders of Jerusalem. Give the fullness of peace now to your faithful people. May peace rule us in this life and possess us in eternal life. You are about to fill us with the best of wheat: grant that what we see dimly now as in a mirror, we may come to perceive dearly in the brightness of your truth.

Antiphon 3: We worship your cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify your holy resurrection, for the wood of the cross has brought joy to the world.
6th candle (top right) is extinguished. Brief period of silence.

Third Reading:   Isaiah 52:13-15
See, my servant shall prosper;
   he shall be exalted and lifted up,
   and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at him
   — so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
   and his form beyond that of mortals —
so he shall startle many nations;
   kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
   and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

STAND

BENEDICTUS (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon: Over his head they hung their accusation: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

(While making the Sign of the Cross, we pray the following)

Blest be the God of Israel who comes to set us free
and raises up new hope for us: a Branch for David’s tree.
So have the prophets long declared that with a mighty arm
God would turn back our enemies and all who wish us harm
.
With promised mercy will God still the covenant recall,
the oath once sworn to Abraham from foes to save us all;
that we might worship without fear and offer lives of praise,
in holiness and righteousness to serve God all our days.

My child, as prophet of the Lord you will prepare the way,
to tell God’s people they are saved from sin’s eternal sway.

Then shall God’s mercy from on high shine forth and never cease

to drive away the gloom of death and lead us into peace.

Antiphon: Over his head they hung their accusation: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. 

7th candle (center) is extinguished. Brief period of silence.

INTERCESSIONS

For our sake, our Redeemer suffered death and was buried, and rose again. With heartfelt love let us adore him, and pray:

                  Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ our teacher, for our sake you were obedient even to accepting death.
   –  teach us to obey the Father’s will in all things.

Christ our life, by your death on the cross you destroyed the power of evil and death,
   –   may we die with you to rise with you in glory.

Christ our King, you became an outcast among us, a worm and no man,
   –   teach us the humility by which you saved the world.

Christ our salvation, you gave yourself up to death out of love for us,
   –   help us to show your love to one another.

Christ our Savior, on the cross you embraced all time with your outstretched arms,
   –   unite God’s scattered children in your kingdom of salvation. 

Lord’s Prayer
Pater noster, qui es in cælis
Sanctificétur nomen tuum
Advéniat regnum tuum
Fiat volúntas tua
Sicut in cælo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie Et dimítte nobis débita nostra
Sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
Sed libera nos a malo.  Amen. 

Presider:
Father,
look with love upon your people,
the love which the Lord Jesus Christ showed us
when he delivered himself to evil men
and suffered the agony of the cross,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Final Blessing and Dismissal

All depart in silence