Tenebrae, from the Latin word for "shadows," has been observed in the church of Jesus Christ since the fourth century, on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. During the service, different readers will recall the events that led Jesus to the cross, and we will extinguish eight candles one by one, dramatizing the suffering and death of Jesus. The diminishing light symbolizes fading devotion of the disciples and the sin of the world. At the end of the service the sanctuary will be substantially dark. There will be no benediction. Please leave silently, contemplating Christ's crucifixion. Jesus, the Son of God, was dead.

The purpose of the service is to recreate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of the events, and it is left unfinished, because the story isn't over until Easter Day.