GOOD FRIDAY: The Hour of the Passion and the Cross

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (John 19:25-27)

On Good Friday, according to an ancient tradition, the Church does not celebrate the Eucharist. Instead, the faithful are invited to relive in silence and adoration the mystery of Christ’s death on the Cross—his unjust condemnation and sorrowful Passion.

It was the 14th day of the month of Nisan, a Friday, when Christ was put to death on a gallows reserved for criminals condemned to death. This is a day of mourning, observed through fasting and abstinence.

The churches are bare. The altar is stripped of the Cross and its linens. All this serves, on the one hand, to make the tragedy of Christ’s death more evident, and on the other, to prepare for the anticipation of what will come on Easter morning.

In the afternoon of this day, around three o'clock—the hour when Christ died—or at another time deemed more suitable for pastoral needs, the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion takes place. It unfolds in three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion. Usually, a Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) is also held, retracing the stages of Christ’s Passion.

Betrayed by his disciple Judas, Christ is arrested. He is accused of causing unrest through his teachings, and above all, of claiming the title of Messiah—that is, the Son of God sent to save humanity. He is interrogated by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, scourged by the soldiers, mocked and ridiculed, and sentenced to death, his body nailed to a wooden cross.
Carrying the cross on his shoulders, Christ ascends the hill of Golgotha (literally “Place of the Skull,” also called “Calvary”) and falls multiple times from exhaustion. Crucified, he dies after a few tortuous hours. Taken down from the Cross, he is wrapped in a white cloth (the “shroud”) and placed in the tomb.