Good Friday is the second last day leading to Easter in what is called the Holy Week. The week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with Holy Saturday. Good Friday, also known as Great Friday and Black Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and
his death at Calvary. [caption id=“attachment_8248531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A Catholic priest offers prayers in a church on Good Friday in Gauhati. AP[/caption] Good Friday is a day of mourning in church. The day sees devotees meditate on Jesus’ suffering and subsequent death on the cross. The
main service for Good Friday takes place between midday and 3 pm and often is based on the seven last words of Christ while he was on the cross. While many might wonder why the day is termed ‘Good’ if it deals with the crucifixion of Christ, experts say that it is termed as such because it is a day or season observed as holy by the church. The earliest known use of the term ‘
guode friday’ is found in the 1290 text, The South English Legendary. Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a
short message on Twitter commemorating the day. The prime minister wrote about the courage and righteousness of Christ, adding that on Good Friday one should remember Lord Christ and his “commitment to truth, service and justice”. Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi shared a tweet to commemorate the day as well. “On this Good Friday, may we be blessed with peace, compassion for our fellow beings and the spirit of self sacrifice,” he wrote. Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik greeted everyone on Good Friday with an image of his artwork.
Greetings to all on the auspicious occasion of #GoodFriday. #StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/SzMcvQMtDn
— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) April 10, 2020
Due to the coronavirus pandemic this year the events of the Holy Week will not be conducted with the public. Instead they will be live-streamed and archived so that people can watch it later.