Catholic Saints

Good Friday is the Friday in which the Church keeps the anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  It is always the Friday preceding Easter Sunday.  From the earliest times, Christians use to keep every Friday as a Feast Day.  It is not clear where the tradition of “Good” came from, other that the end result of what Christ did for us all on Good Friday. Out of love for each human, on Good Friday he laid his life down on the cross to reconcile us with God, paying the price for our sin.   It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum.  The Catholic Church treats Good Friday as a Feast Day, which in the Latin Rite of the Church is understood as having only one full meal (but smaller than a regular meal) and on which the faithful abstain from eating meat.  

The Liturgy consists of three parts; the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.  The Liturgy of the Word consists of the Priest entering in complete silence, without any singing.  This signifies the grief and sorrow of the Church.  The Passion of Christ is read from the account of the Gospel of St. John.  The Adoration of the Cross - has a Crucifix that is solemnly displayed to the congregation and then venerated by them, individually coming to the Altar and kissing the wood of the cross.  Holy Communion is done according to a rite based on that of the final part of the Mass, beginning with the Our Father, and the Holy Eucharist that was consecrated at the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday is distributed at this service.  The Priest and the people then depart in silence, and the Altar cloth is removed, leaving the Altar bare except for the cross and candlesticks. 

Many times the faithful spend the rest of the day in acts of reparation to Jesus Christ for the sins they have committed, which is the reason Jesus suffered the Passion and Death – to reconcile us to God for our many sins.