This evening I took part in a wonderfully dark tennebrae service at St Giles. We used a very similar order of service to the one we wrote in 2003 the last time we were able to hold one in Tattenhoe.As the fifteen candles were slowly extinguished the building became steadily more dark - aided by the electric dimmer lights that weren't available five years ago. As the building plunged into darkness we heard a solid (single) bang representing the closing of the tomb...
The atmosphere at the end was suitably sombre and everyone left quietly...
You don't need to be jolly to be meaningful - sometimes you have to go right down into darkness - and stay there for a while...
I have to say I'm not keen on worship that is simply sombre for the sake of it - all these people walking round with serious faces - but sometimes you have to do misery properly - and that's what tennebrae is all about....
The flip side, of course, is that having dwelt on death, depression and failure you must also take resurrection seriously as well - you need both Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
1 comment:
How wonderful to hear about another Tennebrae service. We also had one, (in Lillingstone Dayrell, North Buckingham Parish) and I completely agree with your comments about it being sombre, but with meaning, not just for the sake of it. The whole service offers that rare opportunity to be deeply reflective.
Our vicar said (as we were about to leave) that we should leave in silence, and try to stay "this side" of the story, not moving to the resurrection straight away. I found that really helpful, and it was so moving to think about how Saturday must have felt for them. It also made this morning EVEN MORE poignant and remarkable.
The hymn singing in the dark was quite hard though - I will take a torch next time!
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