Good Friday Book Excerpt

 Excerpt from the book A Christian’s View of Holidays by J.E. Nickerson available on Kindle and Apple Books.

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0977GNCT6/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b0977gnct6

Apple Books:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-christians-view-of-holidays/id1555518496

Good Friday, also called Great Friday or Holy Friday, is the day that Christians remember Christ’s crucifixion on the cross at Calvary for our sins. Various churches hold services on Good Friday and perform special rituals in remembrance of Christ’s death.

In many Catholic churches, special prayers are offered and scriptures are read in the form of chants. Good Friday is also a day of fasting. The altars of churches are left bare and communion is given at a special service honoring the passion or suffering of Christ, or to those who are sick or unable to attend the service.

During the Mass honoring Christ’s death, many churches participate in the practice of Adoration of the Cross. This ceremony is thought to have been adopted by the Catholic Church because a fragment

of wood that was thought to have come from Christ’s cross was found in Jerusalem and had been venerated since 326 AD.

During the ritual, the presiding bishop sits beside the religious relic of wood symbolizing the cross. Each priest attending the service places the piece of wood to their lips, eyes and brow while they say “behold the Wood of the Cross.” During the veneration or adoration of the cross, a priest often chants a poem that asks why the world scorned God’s son.

Another practice held by many Christians on Good Friday is the walking of the Stations of the Cross. During this practice, special plaques or sculptures depicting Christ carrying his cross to Golgotha are set up in churches. The ritual of the Stations of the Cross is commonly believed to have been created by St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).

During this ritual, observers stop at each station and repeat special prayers, several words or a holy phrase of their choosing. These are called mantras. The purpose of this is to have an ecstatic spiritual experience of God’s love or union with him. This type of prayer, called contemplative prayer, is a form of meditation commonly found within Eastern religions and the New Age movement. 

The practice of contemplative prayer and repeating mantras in order to pray to God is unbiblical. When a person practices this kind of prayer, they make their minds stop thinking through the repetition of a word or phrase, and attribute any feelings or spiritual perceptions they have, to God. Jesus instructed us however not to use mantras or meditative practices when we pray. Matthew 6:7 JKV says, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much

speaking.”

Paul warns us as well that when we pray, we must use our minds to express our desires unto God and not use repetitive phrases or mantras. 1 Corinthians 14:15 (KJV) says, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”

Hot Crossed Buns

Good Friday is also a day when hot crossed buns are eaten. Hot crossed buns are small pastries made of dough, raisins and spices. Although the cross of icing on these buns is seen in Christianity as a representation of the cross of Christ, the cross of icing was originally associated with ancient paganism. It is believed that Saxons once ate hot crossed buns in honor of the goddess Eostre. Eostre was the mother goddess of the ancient Saxons. She was seen as the goddess of renewal who brought life to the earth. She was also the goddess of the season of Spring. It is thought that the name Eostre, was a derivation of the word Eastre or Easter.

When Christianity was introduced to the Saxons, the use of hot crossed buns was also changed. Instead of being a symbol of the pagan goddess Eostre, the cross of icing was reinterpreted to represent the cross of Christ.

Conclusion

As we celebrate the crucifixion of Christ, we must be careful that we are not giving honor to Christ’s cross instead of honoring Christ and his sacrifice. Remember that Jesus Christ is the true focus of Good Friday.