On April 10, the majority of Christians around the world will
observe with fasting, abstinence and penance one of the most solemn
days of the church year
– Good Friday. The Friday before Easter marks the anniversary of
the day Jesus of Nazareth was tried, crucified and his body laid in
a tomb.
On April 10, the majority of Christians around the world will observe with fasting, abstinence and penance one of the most solemn days of the church year – Good Friday. The Friday before Easter marks the anniversary of the day Jesus of Nazareth was tried, crucified and his body laid in a tomb.
There is some debate about the origin of this paradoxical name. What could be “good” about a day of such tragedy? One theory says that “good” is a corruption of “God’s” (thus, “God’s Friday.”) This is the same process by which we now have “good bye,” a contraction of what was originally the expression “God be with ye.”
Other scholars say that “good’ was always the word, referring to the many benefits that humanity received through Jesus’ suffering and death, good coming out of evil, so to speak.
Eastern Orthodox Christians avoid this puzzle by referring to the day as “Holy” or “Great” Friday. Because of their different calendar, it won’t be observed by them until April 17 this year.
As early as the fourth century, Christians began to observe this special day with a three-hour service beginning at noon and lasting until 3 p.m., the time of the “passion” – the agonizing death on the cross recounted in the Gospels.
A traditional type of worship service developed in the 18th century for Good Friday is called “Tre Ore” or “Three Hours.” It consists of seven short sermons, each based on one of the last utterances of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. These are usually separated by hymns, scripture-readings and prayers. Although members of the congregation were able to come and go as their schedules permitted, this liturgy seems to be losing favor as our lives become busier and more hectic.
Other popular services include The Way of the Cross, when Christians walk inside or outside a church and stop to pray at 14 crosses (“stations”) representing events on Jesus’ travel to his crucifixion, and The Veneration of the Cross, when Christians approach a wooden cross and reverently kneel to pray before it.
In liturgical churches (such as Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran), no Eucharist is celebrated on this day. The altars were stripped at the end of the Eucharist the day before (“Maundy” or “Holy” Thursday, the evening commemorating the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples before being arrested). Any immovable crosses were shrouded by black cloth. If Holy Communion is part of the Good Friday service, it is celebrated from the “Reserved Sacrament,” using bread and wine consecrated the day before for this purpose.
Good Friday has been a traditional time for ecumenical services that draw together for common worship Christians from many churches in a community. The tone of the liturgies is always somber and penitential, reflecting the tragic events of this fateful day in history.
Many Hollister Christians will observe Good Friday at 7 p.m. with an ecumenical service at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 680 College Street (831-637-9212). Participating will be pastors from the St. Luke’s Episcopal, St. Benedict’s Roman Catholic, Hollister Methodist, Hollister Presbyterian and Trinity Lutheran churches.
Gilroy Christians are invited to a service from noon to 1 p.m. hosted at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, 11 First Street, (408) 847-5151. Participants will include pastors from St. Mary, St. Stephen’s Episcopal, Good Shepherd Lutheran and Gilroy Methodist churches.
No Good Friday ecumenical services are planned in Morgan Hill this year, but individual congregations will mark the occasion through individual services.
