Wednesday of this week marks what has been known for centuries as Spy Wednesday — traditionally, the day on which Judas spied for an opportunity to betray Jesus. It’s thought to be the day when Christ’s betrayer may have clinched the deal with the high priests.

I stumbled on an interesting explanation of the liturgies surrounding this particular part of Holy Week:

Today and during the Sacred Triduum, the Matins and Lauds of the Divine Office are often sung in a haunting service known as the Tenebrae service (“tenebrae” meaning “shadows”), which is basically a funeral service for Jesus.

During the Matins on Good Friday, one by one, the candles are extinguished in the Church, leaving the congregation in total darkness, and in a silence that is punctuated by the strepitus meant to evoke the convulsion of nature at the death of Christ. It has also been described as the sound of the tomb door closing.

During the Triduum, the Matins and Lauds readings come from the following day’s readings each night because the hours of Matins and Lauds were pushed back so that the public might better participate during these special three days (i.e., the Matins and Lauds readings heard at Spy Wednesday’s tenebrae service are those for Maundy Thursday, the readings for Maundy Thursday’s tenebrae Cercis siliquastrumservice are from Good Friday, and Good Friday’s readings are from Holy Saturday’s Divine Office).

Legend says that the tree upon which Judas hanged himself was the Cercis siliquastrum — a tree that is now known as the “Judas Tree.” It is a beautiful tree, native to the Mediterranean region, with brilliant deep pink flowers in the spring — flowers that are said to have blushed in shame after Judas’s suicide.

Personally, my wife and I will spend the first part of Spy Wednesday at our accountant’s, having our taxes done.

We didn’t plan it that way, but now that I think of it, it seems somehow appropriate…