Not in 2020 or 2021 – Good Friday, 8pm Tenebrae – an ancient service with texts from Lamentations and Psalms, sung in Latin and English from the West Gallery to plainsong and polyphony by Lassus (1532-1594) and Palestrina (1525-1594), ending in darkness and silence to symbolise Jesus’ descent to the dead.

At St Michael’s we try not to anticipate Feasts, so Easter services are listed after the final four Stations.

Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross

Hymn – Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me

Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me,
While he is nailed to the shameful tree,
Scorned and forsaken, derided and curst.
See how his enemies do their worst!
Yet, in the midst of the torture and shame,
Jesus, the Crucified, breathes my name!
Wonder of wonders, oh! How can it be?
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!

IV “Verily I say to thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”

And one of the malefactors which were hanged, railed on him, saying, “If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.”

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss.”

And he said unto Jesus, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.” And Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say to thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus dies upon the cross

V “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” – VI “I thirst.” – VII “It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

There was darkness over all the land. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, saith, “I thirst.”

When Jesus had received the vinegar, he saith, “It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Jesus is laid in the arms of His Mother

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

O come unto me – this awful price, redemption’s tremendous sacrifice – is paid for you. Oh! Why will ye die? O come unto me.

Jesus is laid in the Sepulchre

Hymn – All for Jesus

All for Jesus – all for Jesus,
This our song shall ever be;
For we have no hope, no Saviour,
If we have not hope in thee.

All for Jesus – thou wilt give us
Strength to serve thee hour by hour;
None can move us from thy presence,
While we trust thy love and power.

All for Jesus – at thine altar
Thou wilt give us sweet content;
There, dear Lord, we shall receive thee
In the solemn Sacrament.

All for Jesus – all for Jesus –
This the Church’s song must be;
Till, at last, her sons are gathered
One in love and one in thee.
Amen.

Holy Saturday 8pm – The Easter Vigil for the whole Parish. We kindle the New Light, prepare and bless the Paschal Candles for St Michael’s and St David’s, hear the Exsultet, the proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection, and renew our Baptismal Vows.

Out of the stillness – A poem by Jonathan Draper, former Dean of Exeter Cathedral.

Out of the stillness of dark before dawn,
In the still and the quiet and the damp of the night,
The morning star glimmers alone in the sky:
Signal of day, herald of light.

Deep in the stillness of anguish and fear
Lie hopes that were shattered by death and by doubt,
The husk of a dream lies empty and crushed,
Mind seeks for meaning, heart flickers out.

Out of the stillness the dawn comes again
Darkness is vanquished and hope is renewed
The sun has arisen, never to set,
A new day is dawning with heaven suffused.

Death with its terrors at last overcome
By one burst of light, by one gift of love.
Wholeness and healing and hope in his arms,
The sun has arisen with life for the world.

Not in 2020 or 2021 – EASTER DAY 10.30am Festal Mass and Blessing of the Easter Garden.