Number joining bishop in time to join eastern ritual before Easter (8)
I believe the answer is:
tenebrae
'ritual before easter' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'number joining bishop in time to join eastern' is the wordplay.
'number' becomes 'ten' (ten is a kind of number).
'joining' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'bishop in time' becomes 'brae' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to join' says to put letters next to each other.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'brae' after 'e' is 'ebrae'.
'ten' next to 'ebrae' is 'TENEBRAE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tenebrae that I've seen before include "religious service" , "Holy Week service" , "Candle-extinguishing service" , "Office" , "Candle-snuffing church service" .)