Name: Service of Shadows
Start: 2026-04-03T03:30:00+13:00
Location: cnr Hill & Molesworth Sts, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011

A moving and powerful act of worship at the foot of the Cross, sung by the Cathedral Choir.
This service, which dates back to the very early days of the Church, is sometimes called Tenebrae. We kneel or sit as we listen in the readings describing the shadows which descended on our Lord during his last hours of life on earth.
After each reading, the candles are extinguished and the shadows fall.
The Choir takes up the most ancient of hymns, Kyrie Eleison – Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, sung in Greek, the original language of the Church. We pray and watch in silence.
After the concluding prayer, the bell will be tolled 33 times, one for each year of our Lord's life.
Then like the first disciples, we leave in silence and sadness, but know that this is not the end of the story.