GOOD FRIDAY

the Friday before Easter, the day in Holy Week on which the yearly commemoration of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is observed. As early as the 2nd century, there are references to fasting and penance on this day by Christians, who, since the time of the early church, had observed every Friday as a fast day in memory of the Crucifixion. In the Roman rite of the Roman Catholic church, the liturgical service for Good Friday has been in approximately the same form for centuries, the notable difference since 1955 being the communion of the people. The liturgy, now celebrated after 3:00 PM, consists of three distinct parts: readings and prayers (including the Passion according to St. John), the veneration of the cross, and the communion (in place of the Liturgy of the Presanctified, which developed in the Middle Ages). Nonliturgical devotions such as the Way of the Cross (see Cross, Stations of the) and the Three Hours Service were introduced in the Roman Catholic church after the Protestant Reformation and are still observed in some places. The Three Hours Service is a three-hour-long service consisting of sermons, hymns, and prayers centred on Christ's "seven last words on the Cross." It takes place from 12 noon to 3:00 PM on Good Friday. In the Eastern Orthodox churches, where Good Friday is known as Great Friday, the Matins service (usually celebrated on Thursday night) includes the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospel Readings, taken from the various Passion accounts in the New Testament. No Eucharist or Holy Communion service is celebrated. At Vespers there is a solemn re-enactment of the burial procession of Christ, who is represented by the epitaphion, a piece of material bearing an image of the dead Saviour. In the Anglican churches The Book of Common Prayer provides for a celebration of the Eucharist on Good Friday, though this is largely ignored and the chief service of the day is often the Three Hours Service. In Lutheran and other Protestant churches various services are held, including the Three Hours Service and services with Holy Communion. In many areas concelebrated services take place among various denominations as an expression of Christian unity.