Good Friday
Good Friday is a holy day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary. Special prayer services are often held on this day with readings from the Gospel accounts of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Mainstream Christian churches view Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary and vicarious act, and one by which, along with his resurrection on the third day, death itself was conquered.
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Jesus's possible death date
Using the data in the Gospels and other sources to calculate the date of Christ's death is not a simple matter.
It is believed by many to have occurred on a Friday evening in April. It would seem that there was a coincidence: at that time the constellation of Southern Cross was entirely visible low in the South from Jerusalem. Due to precession this is no longer the case. The most probable date is 3 April AD 33. A partial lunar eclipse also took place on this date.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians treat this day as a fast day. Orthodox Christians spend all this day in fasting from all food, to the extent that their health permits. Catholics also refrain from more than one normal meal, though they may add up to two small meals as required for good health. The Book of Common Prayer designates Good Friday as a day of fasting, but the contemporary worship books make no such reference. As Good Friday is the most holy day in Holy Week, most Catholics do not eat meat.
This day is also the only day that the Divine Liturgy or Mass is not celebrated in those churches. Latin Catholics of the Roman Rite, however, can still receive the Eucharist consecrated the previous day at the Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday) Mass.
The earliest possible date for Good Friday is March 20 and the latest possible date is April 23.
In the Eastern Orthodox & Eastern Catholic Churches
Instead of the Divine Liturgy, the Orthodox & Eastern Catholics meet up to three times during the day for prayer: in the forenoon, to pray the Royal Hours appointed for that day; in the afternoon, the Vespers of Holy Friday; and in the evening, the Matins of Holy Saturday.
The congregants relive the events of the day through public reading of the Psalms and Gospels, and singing hymns about Christ's death. Visual imagery and symbolism is also often used: in the morning, a large cross is moved to the front or center of the nave (where the congregation gathers), and a two-dimensional painted body of Christ, or corpus, is placed on it. During the afternoon prayers, it is removed from the cross and taken to the altar in the sanctuary, and an epitaphion is brought down to a low table in the nave representing the tomb; it is often decorated with an abundance of flowers. The epitaphion itself represents the body of Jesus wrapped in a burial shroud, and is a roughly full-size cloth icon of the body of Christ. During the evening prayers, the shroud is part of a procession outside the church, and is then returned to the tomb.
During this time, the hymns do not forget the coming resurrection. Holding both events in tension, the following troparion (type of hymn) is sung during the afternoon prayers while the shroud is being carried to the tomb:
- The noble Joseph, when he had taken down Thy most pure Body from the tree, wrapped it in fine linen, and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb.
- Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
- The angel came to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb and said:
- Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption.
In the Latin Catholic Church
The Catholic Good Friday in the Roman Rite afternoon service involves a series of readings and meditations, as well as the (sung) reading of the Passion account from the Gospel of John which is often read dramatically, with the priest, one or more readers, and the congregation all taking part. A crucifix is presented, with the people given an opportunity to venerate it. The services also include a long series of formal intercessions. The solemnity and somberness of the occasion has led to a phenomenon whereby in the course of history the liturgical provisions have a tendency to persist without substantial modification, even over the centuries (Anton Baumstark).
An Example: The Philippines
In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, the day is commemorated with street processions, the Way of the Cross, and a Passion play called the Sinakulo. In some communities (most famously in the province of Pampanga), the processions include devotees who self-flagellate and sometimes even have themselves nailed to crosses as expressions of penance. After three o'clock in the afternoon of Good Friday (the time at which Jesus is traditionally believed to have died), noise is discouraged, radio stations and television stations sign off, businesses automatically close, and the faithful are urged to keep a solemn and prayerful disposition through Easter.
In Protestantism
Many Protestant communities hold special services on this day as well. In the German Lutheran tradition from the 16th to the 20th century, this was the most important holiday. It was the prime day on which to receive Holy Communion, and services were often accentuated by special music such as the St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Many Baptist and non-denominational churches do not celebrate Good Friday, instead observing the Crucifixion on Wednesday to coincide with the Jewish sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (which Christians believe is an Old Testament pointer to Jesus Christ). A Wednesday Crucifixion of Jesus Christ allows for Christ to be in the tomb (heart of the earth) for three days and three nights as he told the Pharisees he would be (Matthew 12:40), rather than two nights and a day if he died on Friday.
This notion arises from the ignorance of the Latin calendar's inclusive nature. Three days includes Friday and Sunday.
Residual Customs in English-speaking World
In many historically Christian countries such as England, Australia and New Zealand, the day is celebrated with the eating of hot cross buns, the withdrawal (to some degree) of advertising from television and radio, and the closure of most shops for the day. Eastern Orthodox Christians eat as little as possible on this day.
It is not a federal holiday in the United States, although many states observe it as a state holiday.