GOOD FRIDAY

The Passion Of The Lord

  On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord.

    On this day we experience our sense of loss because Mass throughout the year reminds us of the Lord's triumph over death, the source of our joy and blessing. 

The desolate quality of the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering

during his Passion. 

The Veneration of the Cross

 In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment of wood believed to be the Lord's cross had been venerated every year on Good Friday since the fourth century. According to tradition,  the wood of the cross was brought forward. The bishop placed the relic on the a table in the chapel of the Crucifixion and the faithful approached it, touching brow and eyes and lips to the wood as the priest said (as every priest has done ever since): 

 'Behold, the Wood of the Cross.' 

Adoration or veneration of an image or representation of Christ's cross does not mean that we are actually adoring the material image, of course, but rather what it represents. In kneeling before the crucifix and kissing it we are paying the highest honor to the our Lord's cross as the instrument of our salvation. Because the Cross is inseparable from His sacrifice, in reverencing His Cross we are, in effect, adoring Christ. Thus we affirm:  

'We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World.'

Each of us has our own cross, this is a time to unite our cross to the cross of Jesus, to see the love and sacrifice made for us.

In the symbol of the Cross we can see the magnitude of the human tragedy, the ravages of original sin, and the infinite love of God. Lent is a particularly appropriate time to attempt to penetrate the true meaning of this sacred image represents through prayerful contemplation; and to study the traditions surrounding the Christian symbol of the Cross. 

On this day, may you feel the Love Of Christ surround you to help you carry your cross.