On this day and the next the Church by ancient tradition does not celebrate the sacraments at all, except penance and the anointing of the sick. There is no Mass anywhere in the world. The altar is completely bare: no cloth, no cross, no candles. The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord takes place in the afternoon, ordinarily around three o'clock, and it begins in silence — the ministers enter without song and prostrate themselves before the altar while the people kneel. The rite has three parts. In the Liturgy of the Word the fourth Song of the Suffering Servant is proclaimed, then the passage from Hebrews on the high priest who has been tested in every way, and then the Passion according to John, which presents the Cross as the hour of Christ's glorification. There follow the Solemn Intercessions, ten in number, in which the Church prays in the most ancient Roman form for the Church, the Pope, the clergy and faithful, catechumens, the unity of Christians, the Jewish people, those who do not believe in Christ, those who do not believe in God, public officials, and all in tribulation. In the second part the Cross is shown to the people with the acclamation "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world," and all come forward to venerate it. In the third part Holy Communion is distributed from hosts consecrated at the Mass of the Lord's Supper the evening before. Red vestments are worn. Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence for the whole Church, and the fast is fittingly continued through Holy Saturday. Popular devotions of the day are among the most beloved in Catholic life — the Stations of the Cross, the Seven Last Words, processions of the dead Christ and of the Sorrowful Mother in many cultures. The Directory on Popular Piety encourages them precisely because they carry the mystery into the home and the street, provided they never take the place of the liturgical celebration itself. In many countries a collection is taken on this day for the support of the Church in the Holy Land.

Liturgical season

Triduum

• Isaiah 52:13—53:12
• Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
• John 18:1—19:42

liturgical_season