[Magdalen] Tenebrae

[Eleanor Braun]

The Tenebrae service at St. Mary's in Barnstable, MA was most interesting.

The basic notion of the diminishing light, by extinguishing candles, was
kept.  But the thrust of the message was directly related both to Holy Week
and to the lives of the youth who designed the service.  We had readings
from scripture and music from contemporary culture that underlined the
darkness that descended on Jesus during Holy Week.  But at the same time
the themes of the readings and music were also issues confronted by young
people, and by all people throughout their lives:  oppression (for being
different); betrayal; loneliness; despair; accusation; judgment; death.
The service ended, as is traditional, with Psalm 51, the hidden candle, the
loud noise, and the exit in silence and darkness.

One of my housemates has a 14 year old grandson who is experiencing pretty
much all of these issues, so there was some heavy duty praying for him
going on during this service.

Eleanor

On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 9:46 AM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Our church is doing Tenebrae tomorrow (Wednesday) evening.  It will be the
> first time I've gone.  This service was designed by our youth -- I'll be
> very interested to see what it is like.
>
> Eleanor
>
> On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 9:42 AM, Ian Gomersall <ian.gomersall at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear All
>>
>> I realise Tenebrae may not be in some people's Holy Week schedule but I do
>> think its worth considering including at least one year, in a form
>> suitable
>> to the church its set in.
>>
>> Last night we had Tenebrae and it was very much appreciated by those who
>> attended - and we had, for a wet Monday evening, a surprisingly large (for
>> us) number.
>>
>> Have a look at: http://wp.me/ptISx-1nQ
>>
>> I'd be interested to know other people's thoughts on it, and what worked /
>> wasn't so good about it.
>>
>> Best wishes
>>
>> Ian
>>
>> *Ian Gomersall*
>>
>
>