Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, that most sacred day on which Our Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. There is no Mass today. The somber liturgy comprises lessons from the Old Testament and the reading of the Passion account from the Gospel of St. John, followed by the Great Intercessions and the Adoration of the Cross, the latter including the beautiful and soul-rending Improperia, that is, the Reproaches. The liturgy concludes with the Communion of the priest and the people.

Afterwards all is silent. The Savior has given His life for us and is laid in the tomb, and as a people we wait solemnly for the Easter Vigil, the first celebration of His glorious Resurrection.

Quid ultra débui fácere tibi, et non feci? Ego quidem plantávi te víneam meam speciosíssimam: et tu facta es mihi nimis amára: acéto namque sitim meam potásti: et láncea perforásti latus Salvatóri tuo.

What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done? I planted thee, indeed, My most beautiful vineyard: and thou hast become exceeding bitter to Me: for in My thirst thou gavest Me vinegar to drink: and with a lance thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior.

– the third Reproach, taken from the 5th chapter of Isaiah