Students in grades four through eight at St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero ushered in the Easter Triduum by leading and taking part in a Tenebrae service on April 1, Spy Wednesday.
Tenebrae is devotion of prayer in a darkened church, usually during the evening of Wednesday of Holy Week. The name “Tenebrae” is taken from the Latin word meaning “shadows” or “darkness.”
In the Catholic Church, such services used to be an optional form of liturgical prayer, commonly observed in religious communities, until the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
Now strictly a devotional service, Tenebrae is making a comeback of sorts with several parishes around the Archdiocese of Chicago holding services on Wednesday of Holy Week, once known as “Spy Wednesday,” for when Judas made a bargain with the chief priests to betray Jesus.
Principal Phillip Jackson introduced the service to the school when he arrived three years ago. It is one of several Catholic devotions and cultural traditions that he brought to the school.
During Lent, for example, students prayed the Stations of the Cross every Friday, and Jackson had a priest available for reconciliation.
“I like doing all of the hyper-Catholic stuff,” said Jackson, who has a great appreciation of the arts and sacred music in particular. He is a parishioner at St. John Cantius, which helps Catholics “rediscover a profound sense of the sacred,” according to the parish website.
Jackson first experienced Tenebrae at St. John Cantius, which holds the service every year. He adapted the parish’s script for schoolchildren, leaving in the rich musical compositions like Antonio Vivaldi’s “Stabat Mater” from 1712.
“My toughest, most macho little guys, junior high boys, you’ll catch them singing [“Stabat Mater”] in the halls. They’re going to be 60 and it’s going to pop in their head,” Jackson said.
The arts create a strong emotional response that draws students into a deeper relationship with God, he said.
There was also a catechetical element to the Tenebrae service, in which Jackson and the teachers explained that Judas made the deal to betray Jesus on Spy Wednesday and that the service evokes the darkness of that betrayal.
The service took place in St. Francis of Rome Church in darkness, with the space illuminated only by candles and light from the windows. A student choir led the singing and other students proclaimed the readings.
“I want this to be an experience of the sacred for them, to actually feel what that means, to actually have this connection with Christ,” Jackson said. “I really keep emphasizing that all this is happening so we can be happy and joyous on Easter.”
Eighth grader Fernada Lozano has participated in the service for three years. In her first year, she was nervous, she said, but when the students stomped their feet and pounded on the pews at the end to symbolize the earthquake that took place when Jesus died, something changed.
“It made me feel more light in my soul. I felt calm after reading everything,” Lozano said. “I wasn’t really that into the church, so this got me back in.”
Like many of students, eighth grader Jesus Gama’s first encounter with a Tenebrae service was at St. Frances of Rome.
“It was very inspirational,” Gama said of his first service. “It made me feel courageous. It made me feel like strong. It made me feel nourished.”
Since coming to the school, Gama now attends church weekly.
Having the students take a leadership role in the service makes a difference, said eighth grader Illiana Guerrero.
“I think it’s a perfect example of showing younger kids how to be religious and how to be a leader in the church,” she said. “It helped me understand the real meaning of Easter and why we’re so happy on Easter and on Spy Wednesday and the betrayal of Judas.”