As night began enveloping the landscape on Good Friday, members of Visitation Parish, Brick, entered the church quietly.

Some dropped to their knees on the scarlet runner in front of the altar where a large, plain wooden cross, symbolic of Christ’s Passion and death had been placed, before settling in the pews of the modern church situated on a slight promontory across from the Metedeconk River.

Click HERE for a gallery of photos from the Tenebrae service.

They had come to share in the solemn experience of the Tenebrae, an ancient service dating to the seventh or eighth century which commemorates the suffering and Death of Jesus on the Cross and anticipates his Resurrection.

Among them was parishioner Donna Green who regularly attends Holy Week services but had never taken part in a Tenebrae before.

Green said she had heard from other parishioners about the moving readings and the descent into darkness which are integral to the Tenebrae.

 She had also heard of how the service swells to a conclusion as all the candles on the altar are extinguished but the Christ candle, which is briefly carried out. The service concludes in a remarkable crescendo of noise called the strepitus which indicates the closing of the tomb.

The service sounded compelling, she said. She wanted her own experience of it.

Over the past decade, the Tenebrae, described as a service of “darkness” – the term literally translates as “shadows” – has indeed had an impact on parishioners, said music director, Natalya Bencivenga.

Bencivenga said that each year, the Tenebrae draws more people, who, like Green, have heard how moving it is.

The Tenebrae is divided into three sections, or “nocturns” which each include the reading of Psalms, a very solemn and hushed recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, and the gradual extinguishing of candles until the church is plunged into darkness.

 “The first year, only a few people came to the service which is a sign of hope on Good Friday,” she said. “We only had four readers and now we have 14 and more are expressing interest in taking part next year.”

On this Good Friday, nearly 100 people attended and as the service unfolded, the atmosphere seemed charged with emotion as the service swept to its conclusion, rocked by the noise of the strepitus and with it the indication that Jesus had been closed in his tomb. The return of the Christ candle to the altar brought with it a glow of anticipation of the Resurrection, said Green.

“It was very powerful and very moving. It was a heart-felt celebration,” said Green, who added that she would make it a point to be present for next year’s Tenebrae.

Bencivenga put it this way: “It’s a beautiful Good Friday service and a good step to the Easter Vigil…It’s a sign to us that Jesus has fulfilled the Old Testament and become one like us and that in the end, he calls us to be his light in the world,” she said.