Good Friday

Crucifixion2

NO FURTHER BLOGGING TODAY (at least by me) IN COMMEMORATION OF OUR LORD’S CRUCIFIXION.

WHY IT IS CALLED "GOOD FRIDAY."

SUGGESTION: If you have The Passion of the Christ on DVD, you might want to watch it again today.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

8 thoughts on “Good Friday”

  1. For those of you with a devotion to the Divine Mercy, remember that the novena begins today. It would be especially appropriate to say today’s novena prayers at 3 PM (“the Hour of Great Mercy”) if you can.
    For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

  2. Wow, thanks for this reminder. I was planning on saying a Divine Mercy chaplet today for Terri Schiavo, but I had forgotten about the novena beginning today. God bless you.

  3. Jimmy,
    I’m sure you’ve answered this before, but it would be appreciated if you can provide an explanation again:
    Is the Triduum part of Lent?
    I recall that it is not. If that is correct, then does one’s Lenten sacrifice or abstention end before the Triduum? Or does it end on Easter morning? (The sacrifice/abstention to which I refer is what one “gives up” or “takes up” for Lent.)

  4. Is the Triduum part of Lent?
    I recall that it is not. If that is correct, then does one’s Lenten sacrifice or abstention end before the Triduum? Or does it end on Easter morning? (The sacrifice/abstention to which I refer is what one “gives up” or “takes up” for Lent.)

    As Jimmy has indicated here, Lent ends on Holy Thursday at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Lent is therefore just under 44 days long, since most but not all of Holy Thursday is in Lent.
    Triduum consists of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
    Therefore, it seems to me that Lent and Triduum overlap for most of one day, Holy Thursday.
    Regarding the Lenten penance: Strictly speaking, it would seem that the Lenten penance would end with Lent, at the commencement of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
    However, Triduum itself and Good Friday in particular is obviously also a time for penance, and many Catholics will probably feel disinclined to loosen up their disciplinary rigor on Good Friday.
    Loosening up on Holy Saturday seems to me a different matter. For me personally, since Holy Saturday ends with the Easter vigil, I find it hard to maintain the solemnity of Good Friday on Holy Saturday. I know Jesus is still in the grave on the Sabbath before Easter — for that matter, I suppose he was still in the grave on Saturday night when the celebration of the resurrection begins. But I can’t help it. The glory of Easter for me is just in the air on Holy Saturday.
    Perhaps Jimmy will comment further when he gets a chance.

  5. On the question of fasting during the Triduum, the Congregation for Divine Worship’s letter Paschales Solemnitatis provides:

    “39. The Easter fast is sacred on the first two days of the Triduum, during which, according to ancient tradition, the Church fasts ‘because the Spouse has been taken away.’ Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence; it is also recommended that Holy Saturday be so observed, in order that the Church with uplifted and welcoming heart be ready to celebrate the joys of the Sunday of the resurrection.”

    Since some sort of ‘fast’ is being observed on Good Friday and Holy Saturday (compulsory on Friday and recommended on Saturday), I think it would be rather strange to end any other lenten resolutions on those days.

  6. Here is Rubric 1. for Holy Saturday from the current Missale Romanum, editio tertia, 2002:
    Sabbato sancto
    Ecclesia ad sepulcrum Domini immoratur,
    passionem eius et mortem,
    necnon ad inferos descensum meditans
    et eius resurrectionem exspectans,
    in oratione et ieiunio.
    My unofficial translation:
    On Holy Saturday
    the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb,
    meditating upon his passion and death,
    and also his descent into hell,
    and expecting his resurrection,
    in prayer and fasting.
    I don’t know what was the Latin rubric from 1975
    but the parts about “his descent into hell”
    and “prayer and fasting”
    are not in my English missal based on the
    1975 Missale Romanum.

  7. The only radio station where I live that carries Catholic broadcasting also carries other programming. After Catholic Answers last Wednesday, a program was on in which the person speaking was stating that Christ was actually crucified on Wednesday and all Christians who believe it was on Friday are in error. What denomination believes this? I know the station has some Seventh Day Adventist programming, is that who would believe this?

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