SPY WEDNESDAY EVENING (7 PM) MAUNDY THURSDAY EVENING (7 PM) DO YOU KNOW The Service of Tenebrae The Maundy Thursday Eucharist WHAT’S IN STORE? — Tim Moss — — David Small — If you have not experi- Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet.” ‐ John 13:8 Dear friends, enced the service of Tene- Throughout the season of Lent, we are invited to prepare our- brae, it is something that Over the last few years when I have you will ind very differ- selves for Easter, when we will celebrate that Jesus, by his Resur- attended the Maundy Thursday service, ent to what we are used to rection, has destroyed evil, sin, and death. my own thoughts had resounded through in our regular church cur- my head saying “I don’t want someone to To experience the fullness of the Easter Celebration, we invite riculum. The name itself is wash my feet, nor is it necessary for me you to take part in the Holy Week events we offer here at St. descriptive of darkness – Stephen’s. This guide will tell you more about them. an absence of light. to wash theirs’. We know almost everyone finds themselves very busy, especially From the outset of the Something was different this year. during the week. Still, we encourage you to try and make time for service, the sanctuary and Whether or not it is a result of my close some of these special services. (In particular, the Easter Vigil is nave are lit primarily by involvement with my EfM family, the the most important service of the Christian year!) Participating in candles. On the altar a tri- winding road of my spiritual journey or The tradional footwashing Holy Week will help you to experience more fully the life and angular candlestick con- the acceptance of the St Stephen’s parish taining ifteen candles. death of Christ so that you can appreciate his Resurrection at a family where I feel a special comfort. This year I planned to do it! I came The readings, number- whole new level. to church with bare feet and sandals ready to go. When the time came, ing ifteen, are taken from The lectern and special candelabra set for Tenebrae. We wish you a blessed Holy Week, the Monastic Matins and and a few parish members initially got up, I lingered in the pew. Was I hav- Father Jesse+ and Mother Hilary+ Lauds for the triduum. Divided into Nocturnes and Lessons, the tone is ing second thoughts? Perhaps, but I did get up and moved forward. The somber and forbidding. At the end of each reading one of the candles is irst step was the hardest! Once I was moving it seemed so natural. After my HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE extinguished until at the end only one is left. This last is hidden from feet were washed, I knelt and washed Sylvia’s, while I was washing them, I view behind the altar. The passage of the readings at Tenebrae foreshad- Palm Sunday (April 9) thought of the many miles those feet had walked, the many hours they had 8:00am—Palm Sunday Eucharist (with palms distributed) ow the events starting at the last supper and proceeding to Gethsemane supported her in serving God. and beyond. As the service proceeds, candles are extinguished, marking 10:00am—Palm Sunday Eucharist with music and palm procession The Gospel of John explains this Jesus’ suffering through the trials, the beatings and inally to Golgotha Holy Monday (April 10) and the cross. It is a time of foreboding, a time of betrayal, an agony of act of service better than I ever 8:00am—Morning Prayer in the Chapel could. All I know is that this action spirit followed by denial by those closest to Him and ultimately, a crimi- Holy Tuesday (April 11) nals death on a cross. created in me a calmness that 12:00p-Chrism Eucharist & Clergy Renewal of Ordination Vows (Cathedral) We are shocked when a loud crash is heard, symbolizing the earth- brought forth an emotion of joy 6:00pm—Evening Prayer in the Chapel quake which occurred at the time of the Resurrection. The darkness is yet, at the same time, sorrow. Why Spy Wednesday (April 12) extinguished. The light of Christ is our source. did I forego this for so many years? Tenebrae concludes at the tomb, the women weeping as we recite 8:00am– Morning Prayer in the Chapel Later that evening, I participated Psalm 51 “…a broken and contrite heart, O God. you will not despise.” 7:00pm—Service of Tenebrae in the Watch. For me, the event It has taken time for me to become used to, irst, the form of the Maundy Thursday (April 13) Tenebrae service which follows the monastic tradition and which is un- was more of one of inner relection 7:00pm—Special Liturgy with the Foot Washing and Stripping of the Altar The stripping of the Altar at the end familiar to many of us. More importantly be ready to accept the somber rather than an act of service as was 9:00pm—Prayer Watch (ongoing hourly shifts until pm Good Friday) of the Maundy Thursday liturgy. tone of the readings combined with the gradual dousing of light. Per- the foot washing. The meditation Good Friday (April 14) haps, I am more used to the familiar pace and content of Holy Week as materials provided helped in focusing. It gave me the opportunity to re- The Prayer Watch in the Chapel continues until the evening service. we progress through foot washing to the solemnity of Good Friday all lect on where I had been and where Jesus was calling me to go. 12:00p—Ecumenical Service (at the Methodist Church in Westborough) preparatory to the utter joy and excitement of the Easter Vigil and East- 7:00pm—Solemn Good Friday Liturgy er Morning. Holy Saturday (April 15) Tenebrae makes sure that I have an appropriate mindset to compre- 10:00a—Holy Saturday Ofice of Prayer (in the Chapel) hend fully the entire scope of the week’s offerings. If you have not expe- 8:00p—Contemplative Easter Vigil (approx. 0 minutes in duration) rienced Tenebrae, be open to it’s subtle opening of mind and heart by Easter Sunday (Apr. 16) the psalms, readings and responses of the service. As the light fades and 8:00a—Holy Eucharist with Hymns utter darkness ensues, we realize the enormity of our Lord’s suffering in 10:00a—Festival Eucharist with Choir the last days. 11:30a—Easter Egg Hunt (for children yrs and under) 8 PM MAUNDY THURSDAY—6 PM GOOD FRIDAY GOOD FRIDAY EVENING (7 PM) SATURDAY NIGHT (8 PM) The Watch The Solemn Good Friday Service The Contemplave Easter Vigil — Sharyn Philcox — — Fr. Jesse Abell — — Michele Mongeon — Good Friday evening. It’s the end of a Easter Vigil on Saturday night, shall I go or “Could you not watch with me one hour?” ‐ Matthew 26:40 work week before a big holiday weekend, not? I’ve enjoyed it the times I’ve gone, I’ve and the Church marks it with a somber and been inspired even. Sometimes I’ve felt like I I go to the Garden of Gethsemane in the early morning hours of solemn liturgy. The whole week of Holy found a really good secret and I’m one up on Good Friday to sit with my Lord hoping that I can bring him some Week focuses in on the inal week of Jesus’ the people who show up on Easter morning. comfort and solace on this very dificult night. His friends have fallen life leading up to his death and Resurrec- After all, I’ve said the Alleluias already, it’s asleep and left him alone—but I won’t. The chapel is quiet and I can tion. The week is an opportunity to really been done. You should have been here last immerse ourselves in his story and to re- night, I think to myself. hear our “bubbling brook” that Jesse has plugged in and it, and the live, in a way, some of the most important Other times life just gets in the way. It’s palms which are have been placed in the chapel, bring me into that (and tough) times of his life on earth. Come Saturday evening and I’m already prepping for Easter dinner. So many things sacred space of Gethsemane. Sunday, we will be rejoicing, but we can’t to do, and I’ve gone to Maundy Thursday and even Good Friday (sometimes I read scripture, espe- skip ahead to the new life of Easter without twice), what more can God expect of me? cially the psalms, and irst passing through the tragedy of Good But, I do know that when I make the effort, I’ve loved every minute (and Friday. there are many minutes). I was still un- through these words can We enter a dimly lit church, still bare sure about whether or not I was going to feel the pain of Christ this from stripping of the altar on Maundy go to the Vigil right up through mid-week. night—the worry, the Thursday. The austerity is striking. Unlike Then I had a conversation with Fr. Jesse fear, the dread that he other big church services, today there will be no beautiful organ music, and he asked if I was planning on going. must feel knowing what is only a cappella chanting of somber He was very excited about it. He had new songs.