The Triduum gets seriouser …

What is “Good” about “Good Friday”?

In Old English, the word “Good” meant “sacred”, or “holy”. It evolved into meaning “kind, benevolent”, but the Friday before Easter kept the Old English meaning. So “Good Friday” is “Sacred Friday.” It is the day that we commemorate how Jesus took our sins upon himself, and died on the cross with all our sins. Sacred, indeed!

The day is so solemn, so serious, that traditional Good Friday worship is the longest in our entire liturgy. Traditions include walking along the Way of the Cross: a six-hundred metre route from Herod’s Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on top of Golgotha, the Place of the Skull where Jesus was crucifieds. Christians who don’t happen to be in Jerusalem on Good Friday observe the same walk through their church or their neighbourhood or another pilgramage site; where fourteen banners, statues, or other monuments represent the fourteen stations of the cross.

Another tradition is the Tre-Oro, or “Three Hour” service, held from noon until three pm, the period when according to the Gospel of Matthew, darkness fell over the land. This is the service when you will hear the most solemn portions of liturgy: the entire ten commandments read aloud instead of the shorter “Great Commandment”, the Athanasian Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed, a long prayer litany instead of the shorter versions used on the Sundays of the year. A Tre-Oro service may also include meditation on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. Many Christians will fast on Good Friday, and one tradition is to break the fast with hot-crossed buns following the end of the Tre-Oro service.

The most common Good Friday service involves reading the Gospel story of Christ’s arrest, torture and crucifixion as a dramatic dialog. A minister typically narrates the gospel, with individuals among the congregation reciting the words of the different people mentioned in the gospel. The whole congregation together play the part of the Jerusalem crowd, shouting out “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!). Such a service often ends with the sound of nails being hammered into a cross.

Emmanuel’s Good Friday service will be 10:30am on April 18.

Emmanuel will be showing the movie Jesus Christ Superstar on Good Friday at 6pm,
with discussion to follow