Good Friday
Today is the day of our salvation. Today Jesus will die on the cross and descend into hell for our sins. Today gets its name from “God’s Friday” or good referring to holy. By His death on the cross Jesus will destroy sin and death. The cross itself represents Heaven meeting earth and the reconciliation of man to each other as well as the 4 directions of Earth, the 4 elements and all things being consummated in the Passion of Christ. Amidst the liturgical customs of today, the unveiling of the cross for veneration is to adore Christ in reparation for the 3 mockings He endured during His passion. Various things to note are that Jesus died on Golgotha, the place of the skull which gets its name because it’s believed to be Adam’s burial place. This is a parallel of showing Jesus as the New Adam, redeeming the old Adam by His Blood. Jesus is the Paschal Lamb, He offered Himself to the Father as the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the temple. Upon returning home from the liturgy of the Lord's Passion a pious custom is to veil any Marian image in black.
THE CLOCK OF THE PASSION
by St. Alphonsus Liguori (an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be are prayed after each “hour” or step.)
Midnight The sweating of Blood.
1am Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and is bound.
2am Jesus is led before Annas.
3am Jesus is taken before Caiphas, and receives a blow in the face.
4am Jesus is blindfolded, struck, and scoffed at.
5am Jesus is led to the council, and declared guilty of death.
6am Jesus is taken to Pilate and accused.
7am Jesus is mocked by Herod.
8am Jesus is conducted to Pilate and Barabbas is preferred over Him.
9am Jesus is scourged at the Pillar.
10am Jesus is crowned with thorns and exhibited to the people.
11am Jesus is condemned to death and goes to Calvary.
Noon Jesus is stripped and Crucified.
1pm Jesus prays for His murderers.
2pm Jesus recommends His spirit to His Father.
3pm Jesus dies.
4pm Jesus is pierced with a lance.
5pm Jesus is taken down from the Cross, and delivered over to His Mother.
6pm Jesus is buried and left in the sepulcher.
The Scala Santa or “Holy Stairs” believed to be the stairs Jesus climbed and sanctified with drops of His Precious Blood on His way to meet Pilate:
Good Luck on Good Friday: Eating salt, moving bees, pruning roses, jumping rope (Judas' hanging) and spinning tops. Eggs laid today (PA Dutch). To plant seeds (day Jesus was buried).
Bad Luck on Good Friday: Using a hammer and or nails, doing laundry(Mary bathed the body of Jesus and His garments were soaked in His Precious Blood), setting sail, shodding horses, plowing fields, drinking alcohol, slaughter animals. To work or bake- PA Dutch. For the Finns-There should be no sweeping, spinning thread, visiting or lighting cooking fires.
Superstitions: Germany- If you get a haircut your hair will grow back luxurious. If you cool hot iron in water, that water will cure warts.
Any piece of crockery broke today will scratch Judas with it's jagged edge.
Parsley, a plant associated with the devil when planted on Good Friday will loose the devil's power.
PA Dutch- Even if briefly, or unseen it always rains today.
For people of Czech descent the weather on this day determines the weather for the year.
If one bathes in a brook early on this day they will have good health. Quilts should be shaken out to rid the home of sickness. Just as Christmas eve, tonight water spirits can be seen and the earth reveals it's treasure. This is likely to recall the earthquake occurring after Jesus breathed His last.
Bread that is baked today, especially hot cross buns will never mold, they have healing and protection powers and should be given to the poor.
Water that is dipped in silence before the sun rises is fresh and pure the whole year.
Finland: Witches have the most power on the nights Jesus was in the grave. Due to this, loud noises and fires would be produced to ward off evil.In some cultures, crosses would be painted on buildings and tools.
Pious Legend states that Adam sought a healing balm as he lay dying and sent his son to Eden. The Angel guarding the gate gave seeds from the tree of life. When Adam died he was buried with the seeds. The tree played many roles in salvation history but chiefly that of Jesus’ Cross.
Customs: In Yugoslavia children will dye eggs with their grandparents.
In Scandinavia children are switched with bird branches to recall Christ's flogging.
Some cultures fly kites to recall Christ's going to Heaven and the cross being raised in the sky.
Eat vinegar foods to recall Jesus made to drink vinegar.
Cramp rings are blessed today to heal epilepsy and palsy.
Marble season which began on Ash Wednesday ends today, recalling the soldiers casting lot for Jesus' tunic.
Mexico has their passion play in thanksgiving for the end of the plague.
A Polish Custom is to cover mirrors in black today.
In the Town of Ayot, bells toll a funeral knell for Jesus Christ.
In Italian and Hispanic cultures Priests will remove Jesus from the Crucifix, the statue will be anointed with oils and the corpus placed in a replica of the sepulcher. In Austria, some dress as soldiers to guard the tomb in their military uniform to make reparation for the soldiers on Calvary. Some cultures will light candles to accompany Mary in her sorrow and share their own sorrows in "pesame" services. Sometimes Mary’s statue is carried in the streets in a funeral procession.
In Greece and cultures influenced by the Orthodox Church there is a procession of the epitaphios which is decorated like a funeral bier, flowers are given to church members and they greet each other while departing with “good resurrection”. The bier makes way around town with candle lights and incense over graves, and is incensed on house steps. The bier is passed underneath in a cross shape at the end of the service. After the procession the bier is held up so everyone has to pass under it. Then candles go out to symbolize the death of Christ and rosewater is sprinkled to represent His and Mary’s tears.
Some cultures at 3pm will make loud noises to correspond with Jesus' death and the earthquake that ensued.
In olden days eggs were used to pay tithes and to pay rent, some places would leave baskets of eggs next to the cross during veneration on Good Friday.
The Cross of Christ was per legend made from a mistletoe bush as well as a dogwood tree.
It is alleged that Judas hung himself from a weeping willow which is why the tree weeps.
See Also: "Miraculous Images of Our Lord" for a section on miraculous crucifixes.
The Cross is draped throughout Lent in purple as the color of royalty and contrition on the Cross, the emblem of our salvation. Red is symbolic of the Blood of Jesus and white which will arrive on Easter is symbolic of the burial shroud of Christ. When Jesus was removed from the cross it was by a cloth like lever which may be the origin of the draping.
St. Gertrude Prayer Before a Crucifix
DEVOTIONS TO CHRIST’S PASSION
Phil. 2:8, 1 Peter 1:18-19
Offering the Bitterness of Our Lord’s Passion
“I offer to You, O Lord, all the bitterness of Your Passion, in reparation for the offenses committed against You.”
“I make over to you all the bitterness of My Passion that you may offer it to Me again, as though it were your own possession. And whoever shall do this shall receive double at My hand, and whenever he renews this offering he shall assuredly receive the double; and this is that hundredfold which a man receives in this life, and in the world to come, life everlasting.” - Jesus to St. Mechtilde
Sighs of Love, Tears of Devotion
“With heartfelt grief, I sigh while considering Your Holy Passion, O Lord, and I beg You to wound my heart with the arrow of Your love.”
“Whenever anyone sighs towards Me with love in meditating on My Passion, it is as though he gently touched My wounds with a fresh-budding rose, and I wound his heart in return with the arrow of My Love. Moreover, if he sheds tears of devotion over My Passion, I will accept them as though he had suffered for Me.” –Our Lord to St. Mechtilde
Loving Gaze Towards a Crucifix
“If anyone only looks at the image of the Cross of Jesus Christ with a holy intention, God rewards him with such goodness and mercy that he receives in his soul, as in a spotless mirror, an image which is so agreeable that the whole court of Heaven delights therein; and this serves to increase his eternal glory in the life to come in proportion as he has practiced this act of devotion in this life.” –Jesus to St. Gertrude
Aspirations to the Five Sacred Wounds of Christ
It is immensely pleasing to God to recite one of the following prayers five times in honor of the Five Wounds of Christ as well as spiritually kissing His wounds and adding penance and prayer through the Sacred Heart. This devotion was revealed by Christ to St. Gertrude.
1) ‘Jesus, Savior of the World, have mercy on me. You to whom nothing is impossible, bestow mercy to the wretched.’
2) ‘O Christ, Who by Your Cross, hast redeemed the world, hear us.’
3) ‘The Lord is my strength and my glory; He is my salvation.’
4) ‘Hail Jesus, my loving Spouse. I salute You in the ineffable joys of Your Divinity; I embrace You with the affection of all creatures, and I kiss the Sacred Wound of Your love.’
33 Visits to Christ Crucified
“[Christ] told me lovingly that He desired me, every Friday, to adore Him thirty-three times upon the Cross… He told me, moreover, that at the hour of death He will be favorable to those who have been faithful to this practice.” - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
This devotion requires no formula. Only that whatever we do (as simple as a loving look) is done with the sentiments of Our Lady at Calvary through Her and Christ Crucified to the Father with love and contrition for the conversion of sinners.
St. Gertrude Holy Wounds prayer
O saving wounds of my lover, most beloved Jesus Christ: all hail, all hail, all hail! In the omnipotence of the Father who gave you, in the wisdom of the Son who endured you, in the goodness of the Holy Spirit who accomplished the work of our redemption in you. Amen
Holy Wounds Devotion of St. Gertrude and Mechtilde
Glory be to Thee, most gracious, sweetest, most benign, sovereign, transcending, effulgent, and ever peaceful Trinity, for the roseate Wounds of Jesus Christ, my chosen and only love. (Pray 5 times)
After each five repetitions: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, accept this prayer with that surpassing love, with which Thou didst endure all the Wounds of Thy most Holy Body. Have mercy on me, and on all sinners, and on all the Faithful, living and departed. Grant them grace and mercy, remission of sins and everlasting life. Amen. (When the devotion is practiced daily for 3 years it is recited the same number of
times equal to the wounds Jesus suffered in His passion. This was revealed to St. Gertrude.)
To Christ’s Five Sacred Wounds Taught by Jesus to St. Mechtilde
I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ for the painful Wound of Thy left foot, from which flowed the Precious Blood that washes away our sins. In it I sink and hide all the sins I have ever committed and I kiss this wound in reparation for the sins of The Church and in thanksgiving for Thy forgiveness. Amen
I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy right foot, from which the fountain of peace flowed to us. In its depths I sink and bury all my desires, that they may be purified and remain unspotted by any earthly stain and I kiss this wound to supply for omissions of the will and in thanksgiving for Thy running after us in love. Amen
I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy left hand, from which the well of grace flowed to us. In it I enclose all my spiritual and bodily ills, that, in union with Thy sufferings, they may become sweet to me, and by patience, become a fragrant odor before God and I kiss this wound in reparation for the sins of the world and in thanksgiving for Thy wounds being a safe refuge for us sinners. Amen
I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy right hand, from which the medicine of the soul was poured forth. In it I hide all my negligence and omissions, which I have committed in my virtuous exercises, that they may be atoned for by Thy zealous works and I kiss this wound in reparation for the sins of the world and I ask for assistance in good works. Amen
I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the healing Wound of Thy sweetest Heart, from which living water and Blood and the riches of all good flowed to us. I place myself in this Wound, and there unite all my imperfect love to Thy Divine love, that thus it may be perfect and I kiss this wound three times in reparation for our own sins and in thanksgiving for the Precious Blood being shed even now for sinners. Amen
Jesus also revealed to St. Gertrude the spiritual benefits given to those who thank Jesus for His suffering such as His being forcibly stretched on the cross, that His bones could be counted as well as His thirst and that it was His will to be fixed to the cross with nails.
Pious Practices
“Take, then, this practice, to pray with your arms extended, thus expressing the form of My Passion to God the Father, for the emendation of the Universal Church, in union with that love wherewith I stretched out My hands upon the Cross.” –Jesus to St. Gertrude
“Then you must commend to Me all you do, and all that has to be done about you, in union with that subjection wherewith I, for the same reason, said to the Father, ‘Not my will, but Thine, be done.’” –Jesus to St. Gertrude
“Most pleasing to Me is that soul which faithfully carries out the will of God. Be courageous. Do not fear apparent obstacles, but fix your gaze upon the Passion of My Son, and in this way you will be victorious.” – Our Lady to St. Faustina (Diary 449).
“The most efficacious and the tenderest remedy which you can prepare for Me is meditate lovingly on My Passion and to pray charitably for the conversion of sinners.” -Jesus to St. Gertrude
“There is no person, however sinful, who may not hope for pardon, by offering My Passion and Death to God My Father, provided that he believes firmly that he will obtain this grace, and that he is persuaded that the memory of My sufferings is the most powerful remedy against sin, when joined to a right faith and a true penance.” -Jesus to St. Gertrude
“When it seems to you that your suffering exceeds your strength, contemplate My wounds.” (Diary, 1184, 1512).
Note: The faithful should always wear or carry a crucifix and each home should have a crucifix on its walls and over its entrances to recall Jesus’ Blood as the fulfillment of Passover, to recall our salvation and God’s supreme love.
Various Practices of the Passion Revealed to Saints Gertrude and Mechtilde
Offer the Our Father thrice: 1. Offer the weariness of the Sacred Heart to plead for salvation and to repair for unlawful pleasures. 2. Offer the abstinence and mortification of Christ throughout His life and Passion.
3. Offer the drearied body of Christ to make reparation for sin.
Pray the Our Father five times in three groups to honor the five wounds of Jesus and to amend sins committed by man’s five senses and the three powers of the soul.
Jesus taught St. Gertrude to pray Psalm 30 seven times every Friday, after a year, you will pray as many verses as wounds Jesus bore.
The Precious Blood is everything necessary for our salvation, we should plead the Blood of Jesus over all of our intentions!
Our Lord to St. Mechtilde: "I show these bleeding wounds to My Father, to appease His wrath. He pardons when he see the Blood. Let sinners but look upon Me, and they will be moved to repentance, confidence and love." "Through My Blood, I conquer My Father's anger and reconcile man with his God." -Jesus to St. Mechtilde
Immaculate Heart of Mary, offer to God the Father on our behalf the most Precious Blood of Jesus! -St. John Vianney said the practice of asking Our Lady to offer the Precious Blood is a practice that wouldn’t fail.
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