The Triduum Sacrum refers to the three Holy Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.  In origin, the services which mark these Holy Days go back to the early centuries of the Christian religion.

Maundy Thursday is concerned with the Institution of the Eucharist by Our Blessed Lord in the Upper Room and with his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The Liturgy on Good Friday is pre-occupied with the Crucifixion of the Saviour.  The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday celebrates his Resurrection and our own sharing of his risen life through our membership of his Church.

By these three services the Church not only commemorates these events but also herself in every generation enters into their meaning.

Good Friday

The Liturgy of Good Friday is divided into four parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Solemn Intercessions, the Veneration of the Cross, and the Communion.

On this the most poignant day in the year, the altar is bare and the liturgical colour is red, the colour of blood.  In some churches the colour black may be used.

The Liturgy begins with the Good Friday Collect.  Then follows the Liturgy of the Word which comprises an Old Testament reading, psalm, and New Testament reading.  After these readings comes the Passion Gospel according to St John.  This emphasises how Christ reigned as King from his throne the Cross.  It also tells how from his side there flowed water and blood, teaching us that the love of his Sacred Heart gave to the world the Church, symbolised by the water and the blood, that is, Baptism and the Eucharist.

After the Passion Gospel the celebrant leads the congregation in a series of solemn intercessions, ranging from the peace and unity of the Church to the conversion of unbelievers.  Christ died for all humankind and these prayers, as it were, interpret the mind and heart of Christ as he hung in agony on the Cross.

The Solemn Intercessions are followed by the Veneration of the Cross, a rite which began in Jerusalem itself in the fourth century when a major relic of the True Cross was venerated.  The Cross is brought into the chancel and sanctuary in solemn procession.  It represents the actual instrument by which Christ has saved us.  The procession may stop three times and the following versicle and response may be said or sung:

V. “Behold the wood of the Cross whereon was hung the world’s salvation”.
R. “O come, let us worship”,

and all kneel in silent homage.

Then the clergy and people one by one genuflect and, as an act of humility and thankfulness, kiss the feet of the Crucified Saviour.  When we do this we are not, of course, adoring or worshipping the image on the crucifix.  Rather, we are expressing in a very practical way our adoration of Jesus: “We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, because by thy Holy Cross, thou hast redeemed the world”.

During this Veneration of the Cross the choir may sing the Reproaches with their poignant, insistent refrain, “O my people, what have I done unto thee? Or wherein have I wearied thee?  Answer me”.  We should regard the words as being spoken to us, searching out our lukewarmness, our ingratitude and unfaithfulness, and inspiring us to repent and turn anew to Christ.

After the Veneration of the Cross, the Blessed Sacrament is brought in procession from the altar of repose (see Maundy Thursday) for the Communion of the clergy and people.  Thus, in the darkest hour of the Christian year we are given a pledge of our own resurrection as we receive the risen and glorified Body of our once crucified Saviour.

Note

1. The Common Worship Liturgy of Good Friday is available at: http://www.churchofengland.org/media/41156/tspashw.pdf It comprises four parts but in a slightly different order from that described above.  It describes the Proclamation, rather than the Veneration, of the Cross.

More resources

For more resources for Good Friday, please see the Words of Jesus from the Cross. 

See also the series Major Passion characters, Minor Passion characters and The wounds of Christ.