Good Friday

Watching at the Altar of Repose is discontinued at midnight on Maundy Thursday. Now the mood changes. Everything is silent and sad; and the Divine Office – an important part of the official prayer of the Church – has a sombre character. Yet the hymn (dating from the sixth century, and used in the Good Friday Liturgy since the ninth century) for the Office of Readings has a note of triumph about it. “Sing, my tongue, of warfare ended, of the Victor’s laurelled crown”, it begins. Even on this most sad of days, we are reminded that the Cross was not the end of the story of Jesus for, as we customarily say in the Stations of the Cross, Christ by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.

Good Friday is unique from another point of view in that the Mass, in which the saving death of Our Lord is made sacramentally present, is not celebrated. But we have some of the elements of the Mass, viz., the Liturgy of the Word, and the giving of Holy Communion.

At the centre of today's Liturgy is the Veneration of the Cross. The priest does not hold up the Body and Blood of Christ; he holds up a cross bearing Christ's image, a dramatic reminder to us that it was through His death on the Cross that Jesus won eternal life for Himself and for us.

Although the priest (or bishop), especially when presiding at a gathering of God’s People, represents Christ the Head of the Church, he plays a very minor role in the ‘Celebration of the Lord’s Passion’ (the official title for the main act of worship on Good Friday). Thus, on arriving in the sanctuary, he prostrates himself in front of the altar as an expression of his unworthiness. He does not greet the people, nor does he bless them as he does at Mass. He may give a short homily, but there is something to be said for him – on this day – restricting his speaking to the words of the text in the missal. On Good Friday of all days, it is Christ to whose presence we must devote all our attention. The priest and all other individuals who have an active part to play in the liturgy must fade into the background.

The sober character of today’s liturgy can be enhanced by not having any musical instrument to accompany the singing.