What is celebrated on Good Friday?

Good Friday is the second day of the Easter Triduum and one of the most solemn moments of the Christian liturgical year. The Church does not celebrate the Eucharist; instead, she contemplates and meditates on the deepest mystery of God’s love: the Passion and Death of his Son, Jesus Christ. This day commemorates his total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world.

Unlike other celebrations, Good Friday commands an atmosphere of silence, penitence, and adoration. The liturgical color is red, a symbol of Christ’s martyrdom and ardent love.

Why is it celebrated?

It is celebrated because on the Cross, God’s salvific plan is fulfilled: Jesus, the Lamb without blemish, freely offers his life for our sins. It is the day on which divine mercy is definitively manifested. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us:

“The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one sacrifice” (CCC 1367).

Jesus, with his death, restores the communion broken by sin. Good Friday is not a tragedy, but a mystery of love: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

History of Good Friday

Since the earliest centuries of Christianity, the faithful have commemorated the Lord’s Passion with fasting, prayer, and pilgrimages to holy places. In Jerusalem, as early as the fourth century, Christians gathered at Calvary to read the Passion according to Saint John, pray, and adore the Cross.

In the Roman liturgy, the celebration of Good Friday took on its present form in the Middle Ages and has been preserved with few changes:

1. Liturgy of the Word, with the solemn reading of the Passion.

2. Universal Prayer, where the Church prays for all humanity.

3. Adoration of the Cross, sign of victory and salvation.

4. Communion, with the Bread consecrated the day before.

On this day, many communities also celebrate the Way of the Cross, reliving Jesus’ journey to Calvary, meditating on each station as an act of redemptive love.

Prayers for Good Friday

Prayer before the Cross

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”

Personal Prayer

Lord Jesus, on this day of your Passion, I join myself to your pain and your devotion. Teach me to love like You, to forgive like You, to trust in the Father like You. May the Cross not scandalize me, but transform me. Amen.

Prayer for Humanity

Almighty and eternal God, who willed that Your Son die for us to give us life, grant peace to the world, conversion to sinners, consolation to the sick, and the faithful the grace to live this mystery with love. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Good Friday is not only the remembrance of a historical event: it is a call to contemplate Christ’s immeasurable love for each one of us. In the silence of Calvary, the voice of the Redeemer is heard powerfully: “It is finished” (John 19:30). And with that surrender, our hope begins.