Good Friday
​This is the most solemn day of the Church’s year.
​On this day, no Holy Eucharist is celebrated. We gather for worship at the hour when Jesus was nailed to the Cross. At noon, we walk together the Stations of the Cross, praying the words of Jesus and of Holy Scripture. The church will remain open for prayer throughout the afternoon.
​In the evening, we gather to remember Jesus’ death on the Cross.
At the evening service, we assemble in silence, and we listen to the words of Scripture. We hear the Passion Gospel read – not now with the pageantry and splendor of Palm Sunday, but in somber quiet. We are convicted by our own cries of “Crucify him!” and we kneel in repentance for our sins against the One who gave himself for us.
We pray the Solemn Collects, in which the Church offers up the world and all its pain, error, and grief to our loving Lord.
A wooden cross is processed into the church, and placed before the people. We are given an opportunity to venerate the Cross if we desire – a veneration which we offer to our Lord. Veneration can look like different things for different people. Some people might feel comfortable kneeling before the Cross, and kissing it; others might feel more comfortable touching it with their hands, or bowing. There is no right or wrong way to venerate.
After the Veneration, Holy Communion is offered from the Sacrament that has been reserved at the Altar of Repose. There is no celebration of the Eucharist on this day, but simply a reverent consumption of that which has already been consecrated – a reminder that there is no death or grief that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
The service concludes with this prayer, one of the Church’s oldest and most impassioned:
​Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment
and our souls, now and in the hour of our death.
Give mercy and grace to the living;
pardon and rest to the dead;
to your holy Church peace and concord;
and to us sinners everlasting life and glory;
for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you,
because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.