Good Friday Traditions

[dUSt]

What is everybody doing today?

[beatitude]

I am lucky enough to be able to spend Good Friday in Jerusalem. Early this afternoon I went to the Garden Tomb. This is not the Holy Sepulchre, but a garden containing an ancient tomb from Christ's time that has been left intact, and is now used for worship. I actually prefer praying here because its intact state means you get a better feel for what Mary Magdalene must have seen on the resurrection morning, the flowers and the trees and an entrance with the stone rolled away. In the Holy Sepulchre you only ever get a few moments to pray before you're hustled out by the bouncers (they're Eastern Orthodox priests, but in that capacity they seem very like bouncers!). The Garden Tomb area is also much quieter. It's a beautiful place to meditate.

Then I went to the traditional 15:00 service, one of my favourite liturgies of the year. It's beautiful. That reading from Isaiah, and the line about Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in the Gospel, always nudge me to tears or very close to tears.

Now I will spend the rest of my day very quietly, make my usual fast-day supper (carrot salad and rice), and pray a bit more. Maybe go to sleep early as I'm not very well.

[dUSt]

About to head out the door to take my kids to Station of the Cross, followed by the Divine Mercy and then confession. I'll probably be in and out of the church depending on how my little ones act up, but even then, the St Francis garden next to my church always proves to be a great place for me to pray--even with the little ones acting a fool.

[Credo in Deum]

Participating in Triduum.  For Good Friday we will have two sermons today, stations, then the solemn afternoon liturgy with the Passion according to St. John, the unvailing of the cross, and then communion. 

Edited April 5, 2015 by Credo in Deum

[Basilisa Marie]

Parish staff is leading stations at 3, so I'm helping with that. Then there's the service in the evening.  

Other than that it's drinking copious amounts of unsweetened tea to ignore my hunger pangs, which are never normally a problem but always try to become one on fast days.  

[Nihil Obstat]

Mass of the Presanctified this evening. Katy is singing so we will be there quite early.

[homeschoolmom]

Mmmm pretty typical stuff: Stations, filet o'fish, mass tonight. 

[littlesister]

We had beautiful Stations, led by our residents, and a chapel crowded with the elderly, neighbors, associates, and friends for the Celebration of the Passion. 

Is anyone familiar with the tradition that, if you stand through the reading of the Passion without moving your feet, you can get a soul released from purgatory?  It may be a legend, but it certainly helped to keep youngsters from squirming when the recitation became too lengthy for them.

[Norseman82]

I worked late tonight, but stopped by the parish and caught part of the 10PM Gorzkie żale.

[Ancilla Domini]

We went to the Good Friday service from 3-5:45, then came home, had dinner, and participated in a procession at the church next door.

Since we're in NYC, we generally attend the Triduum at the church of the Holy Innocents...gotta say, it's very penitential. The pews were installed way too close to the kneelers, so have to wedge your ankles in the small space between them - it's hardest during the prayers with the "flectamus genua, levate," because you need to keep the kneelers down the whole time. It was a beautiful service, though, as always.

[Nihil Obstat]

We went to the Good Friday service from 3-5:45, then came home, had dinner, and participated in a procession at the church next door.

Since we're in NYC, we generally attend the Triduum at the church of the Holy Innocents...gotta say, it's very penitential. The pews were installed way too close to the kneelers, so have to wedge your ankles in the small space between them - it's hardest during the prayers with the "flectamus genua, levate," because you need to keep the kneelers down the whole time. It was a beautiful service, though, as always.

​So jelly. Who is celebrating?

[Ancilla Domini]

​So jelly. Who is celebrating?

​Fr. Leonard Villa. He's the new pastor. He was unbelievable - he preached the Seven Last Words at noon, then led the Divine Mercy novena & chaplet, and then celebrated the Good Friday service, which went from 3:00 to 5:45! Also, when they unveiled the cross, the celebrant generally has help carrying it, since their cross is quite large and heavy, but Fr. Villa carried it all by himself! I bet he slept pretty well that night.

[Nihil Obstat]

​Fr. Leonard Villa. He's the new pastor. He was unbelievable - he preached the Seven Last Words at noon, then led the Divine Mercy novena & chaplet, and then celebrated the Good Friday service, which went from 3:00 to 5:45! Also, when they unveiled the cross, the celebrant generally has help carrying it, since their cross is quite large and heavy, but Fr. Villa carried it all by himself! I bet he slept pretty well that night.

​I have definitely heard his name before.

[Archaeology cat]

We didn't make it to the Good Friday service, unfortunately, but we did come up with some good ways to observe the day at home. At various times during the day, I read parts of the Passion to the kids, and we talked about that. From 12-3 we turned off all the lights we could, put away any tablets, computers, etc. 

[OnlySunshine]

I was planning to attend my parish's Living Stations of the Cross put on by the CYM.  We went last year and it was VERY good!  However, I had to work until 12:30pm and I only had 3 hours sleep the night before so I was exhausted by the time I got home and wasn't able to make the play.  I ended up sleeping until about 9pm and then watched the Passion of the Christ.  My mom told me that the Living Stations was not nearly as good as it was last year.  Apparently, they changed it, so I didn't miss anything.

Before I had the job I have now, I used to spend all day in either prayer or attending the Good Friday service.  I've always watched Passion on Good Friday, too.  This is the first year in a LONG time that I've had a job where I had to work on Good Friday.  This year was definitely different for me.