Good Friday: The Day Our Lord Died
Good Friday is the most solemn day in the Catholic calendar. It is the day on which Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, was arrested, condemned, tortured, and nailed to a cross on Calvary. He died on the cross. The sun went dark. And the veil of the Temple was torn in two.
Yet, paradoxically, Good Friday is also the source of our greatest hope. For it was on this very day that the price of humanity’s redemption was paid in full.
What Is Good Friday?
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday and is the second day of the Easter Triduum (the three holiest days of the Christian year, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). It commemorates the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels.
On this day, the Church does not celebrate Mass. Instead, the faithful gather in the afternoon, traditionally at three o'clock, for the Celebration of the Lord's Passion. The altar is bare. The tabernacle is empty. The Church is stripped of all its ornaments, as a widow in mourning.
The liturgy consists of three parts: the reading of the Passion, the Veneration of the Holy Cross, and the distribution of Holy Communion from hosts consecrated the night before at the Mass of the Lord's Supper.
The Passion of Our Lord
The word "passion" comes from the Latin passio, meaning suffering. In the hours leading up to His death, Our Lord endured a cruelty almost beyond comprehension. He was betrayed by one of His own apostles. He was abandoned by nearly all the rest. He was scourged at the pillar until His flesh hung in ribbons. He was crowned with thorns. He was mocked as a false king. He was made to carry His own cross through the streets of Jerusalem. And He was crucified. Nailed through His hands and feet to a wooden cross and left to die in agony.
He did all of this freely. He could have called down legions of angels. He could have descended from the cross and silenced His persecutors. But He did not. He chose to remain. He chose to suffer. He chose to die.
Why? Out of love. A love so vast and so perfect that no human mind can fully grasp it. "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Why Is It Called "Good"?
The name is a source of perennial wonder. How can the day on which the Son of God was murdered be called "good"?
The answer lies entirely in what His death accomplished. By dying on the Cross, Our Lord destroyed the power of sin and death. He atoned for the guilt of Adam and Eve and of every sinful person who has ever lived. He opened the gates of Heaven, which had been shut since the Fall. He made it possible for men and women to be reconciled with God, to become, as Saint Peter says, "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
In some traditions, the word "Good" in this context carried the older meaning of "holy", as in "the Good Book" meaning the Bible. But even in the modern sense, Good Friday is truly good. It is the day on which Love conquered death, the day the world was redeemed.
How Catholics Observe Good Friday
Good Friday is a day of strict fasting and abstinence. Catholics aged fourteen and over abstain from meat, and adults aged eighteen to fifty-nine are called to fast, limiting themselves to one full meal and two smaller meals that do not together equal a full meal. This physical mortification unites us, in a small way, to the sufferings of Christ.
Many Catholics also pray the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, meditating on the fourteen moments of Our Lord's Passion as He walked the road to Calvary. This devotion, beloved by the faithful throughout the centuries, is a powerful way to enter spiritually into the mystery of Redemption.
The Veneration of the Holy Cross, in which the faithful come forward to kiss or touch the cross, is one of the most moving moments of the Catholic year. We venerate the instrument of our salvation. The very wood on which God died becomes an object of reverence and love.
Good Friday and the Message of Fatima
Good Friday is the greatest day of penance in the Christian year. It is the day that gives all penance its meaning. When Our Lady appeared at Fatima, she called for prayer, sacrifice, and the offering of sufferings in reparation for sin. She was not asking for something new — she was pointing back to the Cross.
When we fast, when we pray the Rosary, when we unite our sufferings to those of Christ, we are standing where she stood — at the foot of Calvary. The price of our redemption has already been paid.
It was paid on Good Friday.
A Prayer for Good Friday
We Adore Thee O Christ
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee. Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
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Last updated: 9 April 2026 06:41