Easter on the Net - Palm Sunday

Good Friday

Good Friday: April 22, 2011

The entire Lenten period is filled with significant holidays, serving as benchmarks along the way to the most important celebration within Christianity: Easter. The buildup reaches a crescendo on the Friday before Easter Sunday, when Good Friday is celebrated.

Commemorating the suffering -- known in religious parlance as the passion -- of Christ when he died on the cross, Good Friday is a day of fasting, prayer and repentance. Also known as Holy Friday or Black Friday, Good Friday commemorates the sacrificial death of Christ, without which his resurrection -- the pinnacle event within Christianity -- could not have taken place.

Many Catholic churches begin their worship services at 3 p.m. on Good Friday, which is the time that Jesus is believed to have died. While customs vary by church and by country, many Catholics read or sing parts of St. John's Gospel, participate in the Veneration of the Cross, and receive communion. Good Friday is also considered a fast day in the Catholic Church, in which parishioners are only allowed to consume one meatless meal and two small snacks.

In Orthodox Churches, different traditions are observed. In Russia, for example, churches prominently display a silver coffin with a cross, surrounded by candles and flowers. Inside the coffin is a shroud painted with an image of Christ. Worshippers crawl on their knees toward the coffin and kiss the shroud.

The holiday is also celebrated, to varying degrees, within Protestant Churches. Episcopal, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches often mark the day with special worship services.

When is Good Friday?

Related Articles:
The Story of Easter
Christianity and The Origins of Easter
The Great Easter Date Debate
Greek Orthodox Easter Customs
Russian Orthodox Easter Customs
The Easter Lily

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Comments

Panera Young from United States

15:37 04/22/2011

I think good friday is farrrrr

Jamie from Maryland, US

09:58 04/22/2011

preist's should be aloud to wear all blue at feasts, and masses of the Virgan Mary

Emory William Smith from Florida, US

08:13 04/22/2011

Today is Good Friday.

mekbib from Ethiopia

08:32 04/21/2011

to u!

Aoife from Ireland

05:29 04/21/2011

it is called good friday because lord died for us and we are free from sin so good friday happy easter :)

Creme fraiche camambert... from France

06:05 04/07/2011

yeeeeeaaaahhhh

nikki from Utah, US

18:57 04/05/2011

the day he died (good Friday). He loved us so very much he took all our sins and and asked god to forgive us that we know not what we do. That is love . Unconditional love . And that is why I believe it is (Good Friday) then Easter the reserection of Christ is the day he went back to thy father . Amen

Matt from New Jersey, US

22:45 01/03/2011

GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER MONDAY should be federal holidays in the U.S.!

behrooz salimi from Iran

07:13 04/05/2010

hello; I just wonder if jesus died in friday, why it is called "Good Friday!?" Happy easter

Rukshia from United Kingdom (Great Britain)

10:23 04/02/2010

It really helped me find stuff about Good Friday,palm Sunday and the easter bunny.

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