Good Friday

Holy Thursday | Easter Sunday

On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, in the chanting of the 'Reproaches', in the reading of the Passion, and in receiving the pre-consecrated Host, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord. 

The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle standing open - is as if in mourning. In the fourth century the Apostolic Constitutions described this day as a 'day of mourning, not a day of festive joy,' and this day was called the 'Pasch (passage) of the Crucifixion.' 

The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifixion and death evidently has been in existence from the earliest days of the Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service of Good Friday is called the Mass of the Presanctified because Communion (in the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people . 

https://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/friday.php

Christians in Holy Land re-enact crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday

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  Ethiopian Orthodox Christians gather at Deir El Sultan at the start of the Washing of the Feet ceremony outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem,Thursday, April 17, 2014. Orthodox Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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JERUSALEM –  Christians in the Holy Land are commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Good Friday prayers and processions through Jerusalem's Old City.

Thousands of Christian pilgrims filled the cobblestone alleyways of the Old City on Friday along the Via Dolorosa, Latin for the "Way of Suffering."

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They are carrying wooden crosses and following the 14 stations ending at the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Tradition says the church was built on the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/18/christians-in-holy-land-re-enact-crucifixion-christ-on-good-friday/?intcmp=latestnews

Good Friday service led by Pope Francis

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

updated 1:00 PM EDT, Fri April 18, 2014

Pope Francis breaks tradition, again

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Pope Francis leads service at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
• In the evening, he will walk the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome
• Good Friday, which recalls the day Jesus died on the cross, is a solemn day for believers

(CNN) -- Pope Francis on Friday evening was leading a service at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican to mark Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Christian calendar.

Later Friday, he will take part in a nighttime ceremony marking the Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross or Via Crucis, at Rome's Colosseum -- one of the city's best known landmarks.

Roman Catholics worldwide will reflect Friday on the gospel account of the Lord's Passion, recalling the day Jesus died on the cross before rising three days later, according to Christian doctrine.

Holy Week, one of the most significant periods of the Roman Catholic year, will culminate on Easter Sunday with a Mass in St. Peter's Square, led by the pope.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/18/world/europe/vatican-pope-good-friday/

#GoodFriday 2014

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.  And sitting down they watched him there;  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

The Gospel of Matthew 27:35-37, 45-53 (link)

“It is finished.” John 19:30

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