THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOOD FRIDAY

Good Friday is a christian holiday  to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. It is observed during the Holy week.

It might be ironic to associate the word “good” with such a sad event, but to the Christians it was the beginning of a new era, a time when a Saviour came to earth to die for a sinful world. It represents that day when humanity’s sins were paid off. It reminds people that they worshipped a God who was willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life for the people. The day reminds us of God’s compassion and his command to practice his kind of compassion. Jesus’s instruction during the Last Supper when he said to the disciples, “I am giving you a new commandment that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 13:34).

The day is usually accompanied with fasting and attending church services or re-enactments of Jesus’s last hours. Most Christians especially those of the Catholic denomination abstain from meat. Catholics around the world empty the altars in their churches and kiss the cross as an expression of faith. Protestant churches hold mass services at the noon to commemorate the hours Jesus spent on the cross. Some churches also hold Service of Darkness where devotees sit in total darkness as a reminder of the darkest day of Jesus’s death.

The date of Good Friday varies from  each year to the next in both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. it falls on April 15, 2022 according to the Gregorian calendar and on April 22^nd according to Julian calendar. Good Friday is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday and Black Friday.

Holy week:

Palm Sunday

Holy  Monday

Holy Tuesday

Spy Wednesday

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Easter Sunday