<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><base href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Good-Friday"><style id="print"></style><title>Good Friday | Definition, History, Meaning, Traditions, & Facts | Britannica</title><div class="original-url"><br><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Good-Friday">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Good-Friday</a><br><br></div><div id="article" role="article" style="-webkit-locale: "en"; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="system exported">
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<div class="page" style="text-align: start; overflow-wrap: break-word; max-width: 100%;"><h1 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.95552em; line-height: 1.2141em; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: start; display: block; max-width: 100%;">Good Friday</h1><div class="leading-image" style="max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 1.15em; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 0.75rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/36/172836-050-6B5AF2BD/Crucifixion-tempera-wood-Paolo-Veneziano-National-Gallery.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop" alt="Paolo Veneziano: The Crucifixion" class="" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin: auto; display: block; clear: both;" data-unique-identifier=""></div><p style="max-width: 100%;"><strong style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span>Good Friday</strong>, the Friday before <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Easter</a>, the day on which Christians annually observe the commemoration of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishment" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Crucifixion</a> of <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Jesus Christ</a>. From the early days of <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Christianity</a>, Good Friday was observed as a day of sorrow, penance, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasting" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">fasting</a>, a characteristic that finds expression in the German word <em style="max-width: 100%;">Karfreitag</em> (“Sorrowful Friday”).</p><!--[P1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">Following the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Synoptic-Gospels" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Synoptic Gospels</a> (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-Matthew" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Matthew</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-Mark" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Mark</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-Luke" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Luke</a>), the mainstream of Christian tradition has held that Jesus’ last meal with his <a data-term="disciples" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciples" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">disciples</a> on the evening before his Crucifixion was a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Passover" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Passover</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/seder-Passover-meal" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">seder</a>. That would place the date on which Jesus died on 15 Nisan of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jewish-religious-year" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Jewish calendar</a>, or on the first day (starting at sundown) of <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Passover" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Passover</a>. According to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gregorian-calendar" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Gregorian (Western) calendar</a>, that date would be April 7. (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-John" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">The Gospel According to John</a>, in contrast, holds that Passover had not yet begun when Jesus’ final meal was held, which would place the date of Jesus’ death on 14 Nisan.) Christians, however, do not <a data-term="commemorate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commemorate" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">commemorate</a> that fixed date. Instead, they follow the apparently flexible date of the Passover—which conforms to the Jewish lunisolar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/calendar" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">calendar</a> rather than the Gregorian solar calendar—by relating the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Last-Supper-Christianity" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Last Supper</a> to the seder. Although that assumption is problematic, the dating of both Good Friday and Easter has proceeded on that basis. Thus, Good Friday falls between March 20, the first possible date for Passover, and April 23, with Easter falling two days later. (<em style="max-width: 100%;">See also</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Paschal-controversies" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Paschal Controversies</a>.)</p><!--[P2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">The question of whether and when to observe Jesus’ death and Resurrection triggered a major controversy in early Christianity. Until the 4th century, Jesus’ <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Last-Supper-Christianity" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Last Supper</a>, his death, and his Resurrection were observed in one single commemoration on the evening before Easter. Since then, those three events have been observed separately—Easter, as the commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection, being considered the pivotal event.</p><!--[P3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><div style="max-width: 100%;"><div style="max-width: 100%;"><figure data-assembly-id="246684" style="max-width: 100%; font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: -apple-system-font; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65); margin: 0px;"><div data-type="image" style="max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/67/160167-050-C4356D92/Easter-Valladolid-Procession-cross-Nazarenos-Spain-Semana.jpg" data-href="/media/1/238700/246684" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/67/160167-050-C4356D92/Easter-Valladolid-Procession-cross-Nazarenos-Spain-Semana.jpg?w=300" alt="Good Friday" data-width="1600" data-height="1067" loading="eager" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0.5em auto; display: block; height: auto;" data-unique-identifier=""></a></div><figcaption style="max-width: 100%; margin-top: 0.8em; width: 100%; font-size: 0.75rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/67/160167-050-C4356D92/Easter-Valladolid-Procession-cross-Nazarenos-Spain-Semana.jpg" data-href="/media/1/238700/246684" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; text-decoration: underline;">Good Friday</a></figcaption></figure></div></div><p style="max-width: 100%;">The liturgical celebration of Good Friday has undergone various changes over the centuries. In the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Structure-of-the-church#ref43647" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Roman Catholic Church</a> the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-Christian-religious-service" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">mass</a> is not celebrated on Good Friday, though a liturgy is performed. Beginning in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Middle Ages</a>, only the officiating priest took <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eucharist" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Holy Communion</a>, which was <a data-term="consecrated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consecrated" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">consecrated</a> in the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maundy-Thursday" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Maundy Thursday</a> mass; laypeople have also communed on Good Friday since 1955. The liturgy of Good Friday consists of the reading of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-New-Testament" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Gospel</a> Passion narrative, the adoration of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">cross</a>, and Communion. In the 17th century, following an earthquake in Peru, the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span>Three Hour Service, a prayerful meditation on Jesus’ “Seven Last Words on the Cross,” was introduced to the Catholic liturgy by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jesuits" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Jesuits</a>. It takes place between noon and 3 <span style="max-width: 100%;">pm</span>. Similar services occur in the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Eastern Orthodox</a> tradition, where no Communion is celebrated on Good Friday.</p><!--[P4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">In the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anglican-Communion" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Anglican Communion</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Common-Prayer" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"><em style="max-width: 100%;">The Book of Common Prayer</em></a> similarly provides for a Good Friday reception of the “reserved sacrament,” the <a data-term="consumption" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consumption" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">consumption</a> of bread and wine that was consecrated the previous day. The Three Hour Service has become common in North American churches, and a variety of liturgical services are held on Good Friday in other <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Protestant-Heritage" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Protestant</a> churches. With the revival of a liturgical emphasis in Protestantism in the second half of the 20th century, a distinct trend of adopting Catholic ritual (no use of the organ in the service, draping of the cross, baring of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/altar" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">altar</a>, etc.) developed.</p><!--[P5]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM5]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD5]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">Unlike <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Christmas</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Easter</a>, which have acquired numerous <a data-term="secular" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secular" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">secular</a> traditions, Good Friday has, because of its intense religious <a data-term="connotation" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/connotation" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">connotation</a>, not led to an overlay of secular customs and practices.</p><!--[P6]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM6]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><div data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION" style="max-width: 100%;"><div style="max-width: 100%;">
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</div></div><!--[MOD6]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span></div></div></div><br><br><div dir="ltr">Reverend Dr. Carolyn Peters, National Federation Of The Blind, Ohio, affiliate, vice president, Ohio Communities Of Faith division, president, Miami Valley Chapter, Dayton, Ohio president. 1-937-657-5134,<div><br></div><div>Dr.carolyn.peters@gmail.com☺️👏🙏🤲</div></div></body></html>