Something happened two thousand and 40 years ago in the gray light of the first Easter morning which transformed and transfigured the face of the earth. History began again. The world's heart beat with new and gladder thrill. Henceforth and forever, beneath the all-beholding sun, there is nothing which is "too good to be true." It has not entered into the heart of man to conceive a good which is better than the reality of things. But we are afraid of imagination. It is a vain thing, and must be yoked to a servile mass of matter lest it soar upward and outward, into the blue sky, above the mountain tops, toward the glorious sun, and lose itself in the eternal truth of God!
O brother-man or sister-woman, are you afraid of your own prayers? He is God. He is the Father-God, the Mother-God, the God of the buttercups and daisies, of sunshine and spring, the God who cares for the sparrows and clothes the lilies, who spreads out the heavens as a curtain and calls all the stars by name, who longs for you as the child of his heart, and loves you with an everlasting love, so that sin and death cannot separate you from the might of His affection nor quench His hope in you. Morning light shames our midnight fears. And the shame is that in the darkness you were not sure of the coming dawn. You ought to have known that after midnight comes the morning; in the blackest night of the year you ought to have kept God's sunshine in your soul. Angels have rolled the stone away from the grave of your ascending Lord. Clouds turn to solid rock beneath your feet. And Christ is risen indeed. --Rev. C. F. Aked
"When John Holland died, it was about five or six in the evening, the shadow of night was gathering around, and it was growing darker and darker. When near the last moment he looked up, and said to the family: "What is this? What is this strange light in the room? Have they lighted the candles, Martha?" "No," she said. He replied; "Then it must be heaven. Welcome, heaven." Talmage
Description of Illustration: choir boy, hymnal or Bible, choir robes, portrait, vintage photograph
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Description of Illustration: boy's choir, choir robes, singing in church, lilies at the alter, rosy checks, vintage choir boy illustrations, interior of church, hymnals,
Sing praises to the Lord!
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George Beverly Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America's beloved Gospel singer" and was considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy Graham Crusades and his exposure on radio, records, and television. Because of the attendance at Graham's Crusades, Shea has sung live before more people than anyone in history. Read more . . .
"George Beverly Shea, long-time friend and ministry partner to evangelist
Billy Graham, passed away April 16, 2013 at age 104. This video looks
back at his life and legacy. For more memories visit: http://www.georgebeverlysheamemorial.org"
The Savior folds a lamb in His bosom. The little child filled all the house with her music, and her toys are scattered all up and down the stairs just as she left them. What if the hand that plucked four o'clocks out of the meadow it still? It will wave in the eternal triumph. What if the voice that made music in the home is still? It will sing the eternal hosanna. Put a white rose in one hand, and a red rose in the other hand, and a wreath of orange blossoms on the brow; the white flower for the victory, the red flower for the Savior's sacrifice, the orange blossoms for her marriage day. Anything ghastly about that? Oh, no. The sun went down and the flower shut. The wheat threshed out of the straw. "Dear Lord, give me sleep," said a dying boy, the son of one of my elders, "dear Lord, give me sleep," And he closed his eyes and awoke in glory. Henry W. Longfellow writing a letter of condolence to those parents, said: "Those last words were beautifully poetic." And Mr. Longfellow knew what is poetic. "Dear Lord give me sleep."
"'Twas not in cruelty, not in wrath
That the reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel that visited the earth
And took the flower away."
So it may be with us when our work is all done. "Dear Lord give me sleep." Talmage
Tenebrae (Latin for 'shadows' or 'darkness') is a Christian religious service celebrated by the Western Church on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, which are the last three days of Holy Week. The distinctive ceremony of Tenebrae is the gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms is chanted or recited. In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church the Tenebrae readings and psalms are those of Matins and Lauds. The Polish National Catholic Church and some churches within the Anglican Communion also observe Tenebrae. The tenebrae service is also used in various Holy Week services among Protestant churches such as Lutheranism, as well as among some denominations of Orthodoxy.
"The Lamb" (John Tavener) Tenebrae Choir. Nigel Short, director. Supported by Swiss Global Artistic Foundation
In the Roman Catholic Church, Tenebrae is the name given to the celebration, with special ceremonies, of Matins and Lauds, the first two hours of the Divine Office, of the last three days of Holy Week.
Originally celebrated after midnight, by the late Middle Ages their
celebration was anticipated on the afternoon or evening of the preceding
day in most places.
Fifteen candles on tenebrae
"hearse". The candles are extin-
guished one by one during the
course of the service.
The structure of Tenebrae is the same for all three days. The first
part of the service is Matins, which in its pre-1970 form is composed of
three nocturns, each consisting of three psalms, a short versicle and response, a silent Pater Noster,
and three readings, each followed by a responsory. Pre-1970 Lauds
consists of five psalms, a short versicle and response, and the Benedictus Gospel canticle, followed by Christus factus est, a silent Pater Noster, a devotional recitation of Psalm 50 (51), Miserere, and the appointed collect.
The principal Tenebrae ceremony is the gradual extinguishing of candles upon a stand in the sanctuary called a hearse.
Eventually the Roman Rite settled on fifteen candles, one of which is
extinguished after each of the nine psalms of Matins and the five of
Lauds, gradually reducing the lighting throughout the service. The six
altar candles are put out during the Benedictus, and then any remaining
lights in the church. The last candle is hidden beneath the altar,
ending the service in total darkness. The strepitus (Latin for "great noise"), made by slamming a book shut, banging a hymnal or breviary
against the pew, or stomping on the floor, symbolizes the earthquake
that followed Christ's death, although it may have originated as a
simple signal to depart.
Following the great noise, the candle which had been hidden from view
is returned to the top of the hearse, signifying the return of Christ to
the world with the Resurrection, and all depart in silence.
Sir Colin Davis conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, Susan Gritton, Sara Mingardo, Mark Padmore, Alastair Miles and the Tenebrae choir
performing Handel's Messiah. Recorded in December 2006.
The lessons of the first nocturn at Matins are taken from the Book of Lamentations and are sung to a specific Gregorian reciting tone. They have also been set to music by many composers, of whom the most famous are Palestrina, Tallis, Lassus, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin, Ernst Krenek (Lamentatio Jeremiae prophetae, op. 93) and Stravinsky (Threni). In addition, the responsories have been set by Lassus, Gesualdo, Victoria and Jan Dismas Zelenka.
The lessons of the second nocturn are taken from the writings of St. Augustine, and the lessons of the third nocturn from the epistles of Paul the Apostle. These are chanted to the ordinary lesson tone and have been relatively neglected by composers, though there are a few settings by Manuel Cardoso and sets of responsories by Orlando di Lasso and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
The High-Renaissance polyphonic choral settings of Lamentations at
Tenebrae, culminating in those of Lassus (1584), share the same texts
with, but in musical idiom are to be distinguished from, the French
Baroque chamber-music genre of Leçons de ténèbres.
The celebration of Matins and Lauds of these days in the form
referred to as Tenebrae in churches with a sufficient number of clergy
was universal in the Roman Rite until the reform of the Holy Week ceremonies by Pope Pius XII in 1955. At that time, the Easter Vigil
was restored as a night office, moving that Easter liturgy from Holy
Saturday morning to the following night; the principal liturgies of Holy Thursday and Good Friday
were likewise moved from morning to afternoon or evening, and thus
Matins and Lauds were no longer allowed to be anticipated on the
preceding evening, except for the Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday in
the case of cathedral churches in which the Mass of the Chrism was held
on Holy Thursday morning. The 1960 Code of Rubrics,
which is incorporated in the 1962 typical edition of the Roman
Breviary, did not allow any anticipation of Lauds, though Matins can
still be anticipated to the day before, later than the hour of Vespers. Even at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem, where the need to observe a timetable that did not
disturb the established rights of other churches forced the timetable of
Roman Catholic Holy Week services to remain unchanged, the Office of
Tenebrae was abandoned in 1977.
But the special rubrics of Tenebrae that once accompanied the
celebration of Matins and Lauds, including the ceremony of extinguishing
the candles on the hearse, are now sometimes applied to other
celebrations, even if these do not consist of a nine-psalm Matins and a
five-psalm Lauds.
The 1970 revision of the Roman Breviary, now called the Liturgy of the Hours,
recommends public celebration of the Office of Readings (Matins) and
Morning Prayer (Lauds) - what was formerly called "Tenebrae" - for Good Friday and Holy Saturday,
Unlike its older form in the Divine Office, the newer form of the
Office of Readings and Morning Prayer on these days has no distinctive
structure, and there is no extinguishing of candles or lights. The
Office of Readings and Morning Prayer is shorter than in the older form,
although there is provision for extending the Office of Readings for
more solemn occasions.
Nevertheless, when the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer is
celebrated on these days, some elements of the older form of these
offices are often used.
Summorum Pontificum
(2007) permits clerics bound to the recitation of the Divine Office to
use the 1962 Roman Breviary, a permission availed of by several
religious and secular institutes and societies of apostolic life; but
the 1955 and 1960 changes exclude the anticipation of Matins and Lauds
to the previous evening, whether celebrated with or without the Tenebrae
ceremonies. However, some places hold something similar to the original
Tenebrae celebration as an extra-liturgical, devotional service. The
content, ceremony, and time of this celebration vary widely.
The front cover of a Lutheran church
bulletin for Good Friday, describing the
significance, as well as the summary
of components, of a typical tenebrae
service.
The name Tenebrae is also given to various other Holy Week services held by some Protestant churches including the Lutheran, United Methodist, United Church of Christ and Presbyterian churches. Variations of Tenebrae are sometimes celebrated in less formal or non-denominational churches as well. Protestant versions of Tenebrae service, particularly on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, often contain readings from the gospels which describe the time between the Last Supper and the Passion of Christ.
Another frequent element in Protestant Tenebrae services is the
inclusion of the last seven sayings of Jesus, assembled from the various
gospel accounts.
Some churches have the people who read scripture snuff out candles
and/or drape black cloth over church furnishings and ornamentation when
they finish their passage to represent the flight of the disciples and the approach of the dark hate of Jesus' enemies and the Passion of Christ. When the last passage has been read the church or room is completely dark and recalls the days when Jesus was in the tomb.
When this is the case, someone such as an acolyte often comes forward
and relights a single candle to represent the hope of the prophecy of Easter.
Another alternative is the service above interwoven in a Last Supper with lamb meat, bitter herbs, and other elements of the Jewish Passover commemoration.
Sometimes Protestant Tenebrae services involve the participants receiving Communion.
When this is the case, some churches have the participants come up
front and sit at a table in groups of twelve to receive communion.
Some Churches of the Anglican communion celebrate Tenebrae with the same rite as Roman Catholics. Anglicans, including the Episcopal Church,
usually observe the service on Wednesday in Holy Week, thereby
preserving the importance of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
observances.
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