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"Be not overcome with evil, But overcome evil with good." ---
Romans 12:21
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Good Friday occurs between March 20th and April 23rd on the Friday before Easter. It is a day marked with prayers, fast and penance, a day of contrition for Christians. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put to death on the Friday before Easter Day.
Since the early church Good Friday has been observed by fasting and penance. However, for many years it had no association with Jesus' death but was simply another day of fasting. Since the late fourth century, it has been associated with the crucifixion.
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Many churches now have mourning services from noon until 3:00 p.m. to symbolize Jesus' last hours on the cross. Some congregations also re-enact Jesus' procession to the cross in a ritual known as Stations of the Cross.
From the earliest times the Christians kept every Friday as a feast day; and the obvious reasons for those usages explain why Easter is the Sunday par excellence, and why the Friday which marks the anniversary of Christ's death came to be called the Great or the Holy or the Good Friday. The origin of the term Good is not clear. Some say it is from "God's Friday" (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English. Sometimes, too, the day was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons; so today in Denmark.
Good Friday has always challenged merely human goodness. Its sad commemoration reminds us that in the face of sin, our goodness avails nothing. Only One is good enough to save us. That he did so is cause indeed for celebration. |
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