Good Friday
Feast Day: Friday of Holy Week
It is the darkest day of the year.
The day the Son of God was killed.
And we call it good.
Because on that Friday, love won.
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The Day Jesus Died
After the Last Supper, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He was tried through the night, scourged, crowned with thorns, and sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate.
He carried His Cross to Calvary and was crucified between two thieves.
Around three in the afternoon, He spoke His last words from the Cross:
“It is consummated.”
— John 19:30, Douay-Rheims
Not “I am finished.”
“It is finished.”
The work He came to do was complete.
Why He Did It
Seven hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaias had seen this day:
“But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.”
— Isaias 53:5, Douay-Rheims
And Jesus Himself had said:
“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
— John 15:13, Douay-Rheims
The Cross is not an accident.
It is the price of love.
The Only Day Without a Mass
Good Friday is the only day of the year when Mass is not celebrated anywhere in the world.
Instead, the Church gathers for the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, often in the afternoon.
It has three parts.
The Passion according to St. John is read.
The Church offers solemn prayers for the whole world.
And the faithful come forward to venerate the Cross, often with a kiss or a genuflection.
Communion is distributed from hosts consecrated at the Holy Thursday Mass.
Many parishes also pray the Stations of the Cross.
Fasting and Abstinence
Like Ash Wednesday, Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence.
Catholics 14 and older abstain from meat, and Catholics from 18 to 59 fast.
It is a small way of standing with Jesus on the day He gave everything.
When Is It Celebrated?
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter.
In 2027, it falls on March 26.
In 2028, it falls on April 14.
What Good Friday Teaches Us
Good Friday teaches us how much we are loved.
It teaches us that suffering, united to Christ, is never wasted.
And it reminds us that the story does not end at the tomb.
Fulton Sheen put it simply: unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there can never be an Easter Sunday.
When Is Good Friday?
The Catholic Church observes Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord on the Friday before Easter, the second day of the Easter Triduum.
Prayer Inspired by Good Friday
Lord Jesus Christ,
You were wounded for our sins
and gave Your life for us on the Cross.
Thank You for loving us to the end.
Help us to carry our crosses with You,
to forgive as You forgave,
and to trust that love is stronger than death.
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world. Amen.
