FALL RIVER \u2014 A Tenebrae<\/em> service will take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 12, the Wednesday of Holy Week, at St. Mary\u2019s Cathedral, Spring St., in Fall River. The term \u201cTenebrae<\/em>\u201d is the Latin word for \u201cdarkness,\u201d and it anticipates the darkness that covered the earth when Jesus suffered death on a cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This observance at St. Mary\u2019s Cathedral has become the occasion for ecumenical prayer among Christians of various traditions and denominations. A member of the clergy from a faith tradition other than Catholic is invited to offer the homily; this year, the Reverend Elizabeth Watson of First Baptist Church, Fall River, will serve as homilist. It is a moment in Holy Week when Christians lose track of their separations and join in a unified observance of the beliefs they hold in common. All persons of faith are invited to take part in this hour of prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenebrae<\/em> originated many centuries ago with the monastic prayer said after midnight on the last three days of Holy Week. That tradition has been modified in recent times so that the laity can take part in the mid-week recitation of psalms designated as \u201cnocturns,\u201d referring to the original three night-time services of Tenebrae<\/em>. In the abbreviated form in use nowadays, the sanctuary of the church is illuminated by a \u201chearse,\u201d the term used for a large structure like a candelabra which holds fifteen candles (seven pairs and a single candle at the apex). As the psalms are recited and the Lamentation of Jeremiah is chanted, the candles are gradually extinguished and the refrain \u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God,\u201d is sung repeatedly. After the seventh pair of candles is put out, the last candle is removed to a hidden place and the choir chants the \u201cChristus\u201d (Philippians<\/em> 2:8) \u2013 \u201cChrist became obedient for us even to death, dying on the cross. Because of this God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the most dramatic moment of the service, the chant is followed by loud noises, made by the choir and congregation banging on books or pews, to represent the earth quaking at the time of Christ\u2019s death and the sound of the stone closing his tomb. Shortly after that the one candle that had been removed is returned to the sanctuary as a sign of the Resurrection. The service then ends in silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FALL RIVER \u2014 A Tenebrae service will take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 12, the Wednesday of Holy Week, at St. Mary\u2019s Cathedral, Spring St., in Fall River. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crosspost_to_16":false,"_crosspost_to_17":false,"_crosspost_to_18":false,"_crosspost_to_19":false,"_crosspost_to_20":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13],"class_list":["post-5817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n