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.