BY MARK JUDE MUGERWA
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What is Good Friday? When is it celebrated? What do we commemorate on that day?
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday, on which the crucifixion of Christ and his death at Calvary is commemorated in the Christian Church. It is traditionally a day of fasting and penance. It is observed during Holy week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Holy and Great Friday), and Black Friday.
Fasting and attending religious services are part of the commemoration for many on Good Friday. For example, for Roman Catholics, the religious service on Good Friday is the middle part of a three-day-long liturgy, or official rites, called the Triduum.
Good Friday is the Friday when Jesus Christ was crucified. Jesus was ridiculed and beaten because he said that he was God’s son. He was made to wear a crown made from thorns. He had to carry the heavy cross on which he would be crucified, to a hilltop.
Christ was crucified at the place of skull or Calvary after being flogged and nailed by wrists and feet to a cross. Good Friday worship invites Christians to reflect on the suffering Christ went through for our sake by sacrificing his life for our sins.
The cross is the most significant symbol of Good Friday. It symbolizes Christ’s sacrifice and his death by crucifixion. Catholics also venerate what was believed to be a piece of the actual wooden cross used to crucify Jesus, and honour it with a reverent touch or kiss. Abstinence from meat is done as a sacrifice by many Christians because they believe that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. Red is symbolic of passion and blood. It is worn during the feasts of the martyrs, Good Friday, Palm Sunday and the Pentecost.
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