Episcopal, Methodist churches offer Gregorian song on Good Friday

For the fifth consecutive year, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Madera United Methodist Church will offer a sung Good Friday service at noon on April 3. This service brings many who travel from Fresno and farther to experience this traditional Good Friday worship.

This chanted and sung service uses music and prayers that are many centuries old. Fully half of the one-hour service is the chanted Passion according to John, proclaiming the passion narrative of Jesus, chapters 18 and 19 of John’s Gospel. 

This year, additional quality singers have been added so that the crowd parts of the Passion will be sung using the four-part choral settings written by Luis de Victoria, one of the greatest Renaissance composers. The blend of chant and choral settings enriches the emotional and meditative power of the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus to a level that goes far beyond mere words.