GOOD FRIDAY

Good Friday: translation

The Last Friday in Lent on which we commemorate the Death of our Lord. It is called Good Friday from the blessed results of our Saviour's sufferings, for by the shedding of His own most precious Blood He obtained eternal Redemption for us. It is the most solemn and binding of all Fridays and should be observed as an absolute Fast in token of our sorrow for sin, and in preparation for the Easter Communion. All unnecessary work, all social engagements and pleasures are especially to be avoided by all those who reverence their Lord, and remember of what Good Friday is the solemn memorial. It is a day of Church-going, and it will be found that the Good Friday services are very impressive, solemn and soul-stirring. The Proper Psalms are the 22d, 40th and 54th in Morning Prayer, and the 69th and 88th for Evening Prayer. Proper Lessons and three special Collects, together with the Epistle and Gospel all set forth, amid the solemnities of worship, the momentous story of the Saviour's Passion and Death. In many places, it is usual to have in addition to the appointed services, the "Three Hours Service" (which see), held from 12 M. to 3 P. M., in commemoration of our Lord's Agony on the Cross, and consisting of special prayers and hymns with addresses or meditations. The Holy Communion is not celebrated on Good Friday, in accordance with the immemorial usage of the Church; only the introductory portion of the service is used. The Altar is entirely stripped of its hangings and ornaments, except the cross, and is sometimes covered with black hangings. The observance of Good Friday is inwoven into the very texture of the Christian Religion, having been kept from the very first age of Christianity with strictest fasting and humiliation. The mind of the Church seems always to have been, "this day is not one of man's institution, but was consecrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He made it the day of His most Holy Passion."