Christian Holidays · Holy Week
Good Friday
The most solemn day of the Christian year, remembering the crucifixion of Jesus.
When: The Friday before Easter
Origin and history
Good Friday remembers the crucifixion and death of Jesus at Calvary, also called Golgotha, outside Jerusalem. It is part of the Paschal Triduum, the three days from the evening of Maundy Thursday to Easter. Many Christians keep it with fasting and quiet church services. The Gospels record darkness covering the land from noon until about three in the afternoon, when Jesus died.
Customs
- The Three Hours' Devotion from noon to 3 p.m., based on the Seven Last Words of Jesus from the cross.
- Praying the Stations of the Cross, which follow Jesus's path to the cross.
- Traditionally no church bells are rung from Good Friday until the Easter Vigil.
- Eating hot cross buns, spiced buns marked with a cross.
- Moravian Christians clean the gravestones in their cemeteries.
How traditions differ
Good Friday is observed by Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and some Reformed churches. Its date moves each year with Easter, and Eastern and Western churches often keep it on different days because they calculate Easter differently.
In the library
Works: The Bible · Sermons and Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
Great Lives: Johann Sebastian Bach
More in Holy Week
Sources checked: Good Friday (Wikipedia); Hot cross bun (Wikipedia).