Good Friday rites to commemorate Christ’s passion, crucifixion, and death
Time-tested traditions and practices in solemn commemoration of the Lord’s Passion will be held in many parts of the country on Good Friday, which is observed as a day of fasting, abstinence, penance, prayer, and alms-giving.
Elaborate processions of religious im
ages that depict the passion of Christ, His crucifixion, death, and burial, will be held in key cities and provinces across the country. 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 carriages are traditionally followed by parish church officials, representatives of religious groups, and devotees holding candles, singing hymns, and praying the holy rosary.
The set of religious images is similar to that of 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.
In San Mateo, Rizal; and in Meycauayan, Bulacan; around 62 life-size images usually comprise the Good Friday procession. In Baliuag, Bulacan, more than a hundred religious images will be paraded through the streets, while in Sorsogon City, barefoot devotees and penitents will join the two-hour procession through the city streets in a display of piety and reverence. Solemn processions will also be held in Pakil, Majayjay, and Paete, Laguna; and in San Pablo and Molo, Iloilo.
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.
In some localities such as in Cutud, San Fernando, Pampanga, it has become a tradition for a number of devotees, including women, to have themselves nailed on the cross, a spectacle that attracts curious tourists and spectators but has long been discouraged by the Roman Catholic Church.
No bells will be rung in churches on Good Friday, while the holy water fonts will be emptied in preparation for the blessing of the water during the Easter Vigil on the night of Black Saturday. 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, 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 a 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.
In several churches across the country on Good Friday, the Liturgy of the Hour and the Way of the Cross will be observed. At the Quiapo Church, the “Siete Palabras” will be held at noon,
the Veneration of the Cross at 3 p.m., and the procession of the Santo Entierro (Sacred Interred Christ) with the Mother Dolorosa followed by the “Pahalik sa Krus” will be held at 5 p.m.
At the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, the Stations of the Cross will be held at 8:30 a.m. The Veneration of the Cross and reflections on the Seven Last Words will be held from 12 noon to 3 p.m., to be followed by the Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion.
In Rome, Italy, the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday is traditionally held at 5 p.m. According to the Vatican, the service that is held at the St. Peter’s Basilica is not a complete mass, as a sign of mourning over Christ’s death.
“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.
In the evening, Pope Francis will lead the praying of the Stations of the Cross or Via Crucis, a procession that commemorates the 14 stages of Christ’s passion at the Colosseum at about 9:15 p.m.
The Stations of the Via Crucis were placed at the Colosseum in 1744 by Pope Benedict XIV, in honor of the martyrs who were killed at the site in ancient times. A huge cross with burning torches lights the sky as the Stations of the Cross are described in several languages. The Pope ends the Stations of the Cross by blessing all the pilgrims who participated.