Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Good Friday Tenebrae service March 21
Fairlawn West United Church of Christ in Akron, Ohio will observe Good Friday of Holy Week on March 21, 2008 at 7:30 pm in the sanctuary room of the building. The specific style of the worship is a traditional service called "Tenebrae." The church building is at 2095 West Market Street in front of Resnick School.
Tenebrae (Latin for shadows) is a religious service characterized by the gradual extinguishing of candles. Lighting is gradually reduced throughout the service. Initially 15 candles are lit and are extinguished one by one after each lesson. The service ends in total darkness. The great noise at the end of the service is generated by banging a cymbal symbolizing the earthquake that followed Christ's death. This custom seems to have originated as a simple signal to depart in silence. Following the great noise a single candle, which had been hidden from view is returned to the top of the hearse. It is felt that the single candle signifies the return of Christ to the world with the Resurrection.
Why GOOD Friday? The word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye. So perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. Generally it is accepted that we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.
Tenebrae (Latin for shadows) is a religious service characterized by the gradual extinguishing of candles. Lighting is gradually reduced throughout the service. Initially 15 candles are lit and are extinguished one by one after each lesson. The service ends in total darkness. The great noise at the end of the service is generated by banging a cymbal symbolizing the earthquake that followed Christ's death. This custom seems to have originated as a simple signal to depart in silence. Following the great noise a single candle, which had been hidden from view is returned to the top of the hearse. It is felt that the single candle signifies the return of Christ to the world with the Resurrection.
Why GOOD Friday? The word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye. So perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. Generally it is accepted that we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.
