Today, Good Friday, churches are dressed in black, chandeliers are extinguished, songs are played without accompaniment. These traditions differ in each parish, because they are determined by the people themselves.
Good Friday – the time of suffering – is inseparably connected with the cross. The crucified Jesus is a victim of human violence. His bloody death sentence was supposed to have a repulsive effect and show people the “powerlessness” of Jesus, who helped others but could not help himself.
The idea that the son of God died on the cross seemed impossible to Jesus’ contemporaries, because the death of the cross was a shameful way of death. Educated Romans considered the cross to be something so repulsive that it had to be kept far not only from the body but also from the eyes of Roman citizens. For aesthetes, it was indeed not a pretty sight.
Many people expect from Christianity a life without suffering and the fulfillment of all longings and needs, they avoid the cross. However, Easter cannot be imagined without Good Friday, when Jesus takes a different path, and this path cannot remain without suffering, it is at the center of everything.
Services dedicated to Good Friday will be held today in many churches throughout Latvia.
On this day, the Church reads the Gospel about the condemnation of Christ and prays for everyone – believers and unbelievers. After this intercession, the cover of the cross is removed and the image of the cross is revealed to the faithful. Then follows the morning of Holy Communion and the procession with the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of the “tomb of Christ”.
Good Friday is the only day of the year when priests do not celebrate Holy Mass. Believers must observe a strict fast on this day.
