The Tenebrae

A religious funeral service in the Church of Rome, held on Good Friday.

It consists of, first, a brilliantly lighted church: at a signal, the lights are instantly extinguished; and for some time total darkness and silence reign supreme, to commemorate the three hours of darkness. When the church is lighted again, very dimly, a coffin is before the altar, studded with stars, and surrounded with candles. The altar is draped in black, and the place where the Host is kept is open and empty.

The funeral service, called the Tenebrae, then begins, consisting of penitential psalms, and ending with the chanting of the Miserere, or fifty-first psalm.

The service is very effective, and brings very vividly to the mind the death of Christ.

The Pope always presides at this service, in St. Peter's, Rome.