Age-old traditions and time-tested rites that were put on hold at the height of the pandemic will be held in many parts of the country on Good Friday, April 7, in solemn commemoration of the Lord’s Passion.
Good Friday is traditionally observed by Roman Catholics as a day of fasting, abstinence, penance, prayer, and alms giving.
At the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, the Stations of the Cross will be held at 9 a.m. Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula will preside over the Evening Mass for the Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion at 3 p.m. Rites will include the Liturgy of the Word and the Veneration of the Cross.
In some provinces, processions of religious images that depict the passion of Christ, His crucifixion, death, and burial, will be held again this year.
As a safety measure, the faithful are discouraged from kissing the cross.
Observed as one of the highlights of the ‘Semana Santa’ (Holy Week), a set list of life-size images and key religious figures will be lined up according to the sequence of events in the life and death of Jesus and will be paraded solemnly through the streets a few hours after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the time Jesus was believed to have died on the cross.
The set of religious images is the same to the Holy Wednesday procession although Good Friday processions are longer with the addition of the Pieta, Christ being brought down from the cross, and the Santo Sepulcro (Interred Christ). The last image in the procession is traditionally reserved for the Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother), the grieving Blessed Mother garbed in black, a black veil covering her face, as a sign of mourning for the death of her beloved Son.
Other traditional Good Friday observances include praying the Acts of Reparation, the Veneration of the Cross, meditation on the Seven Last Words, the praying of the Way of the Cross, and the presentation of the “senakulo” or passion play.
No bells will be rung in churches today. After three o’clock in the afternoon, the faithful are encouraged to keep a solemn and prayerful disposition and to refrain from excessive merrymaking.
On Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, Roman Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59, except those who are ill, are permitted to consume only one full meal, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together, should not exceed the full meal. Those who are 14 years old and above are also required to abstain from meat and on all Fridays for the duration of the Lenten Season.
“The service on Good Friday is called the Mass of the Pre sanctified because Communion that is given to the people, had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday. Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil, as are all bells or other instruments, the only music during this period being unaccompanied chant,” the Vatican said.
RELATED TAGS: #GOOD FRIDAY #HOLY WEEK 2023