If you haven't experienced Tenebrae (prayer for the nights of Triduum) before, this is the perfect year to try it out! During a typical Holy Week, it's a little much for families with small kids to try to make it to one more thing, but well, here we are. This is a prayer that really captures the senses, which is something I think we could all use when our usual forms of worship are being brought to us through the filter of our screens.
I've put together this printable version, which is pared-down enough for small attention spans who will mostly like the candles and banging on things in the dark, but serious enough not to feel babyish for older children or an all-adult group.
If you are musically inclined, it's well worth the effort to chant the Lamentations. I've put together the English text and the original chant melody here:
Go here or here to see how your parish version is made.
Or make your own for your family's prayer center using these simple directions:
Cut a piece of white tissue paper, approximately 8 x 10.5 and carefully tape it onto a piece of copier paper. It will work best if it is all very flat.
Cut the page in thirds along the width and, centering the image on your candle, hold the blank ends behind the candle, shielding your fingers from the heat during the next step.
Using a hair dryer on high heat simply melt the cross image onto the front of the candle. Once it's tacked in place by the heat you can trim the tissue paper ends and continue to melt down the paper edges.
