GOOD FRIDAY, the English name for the Friday before Easter, kept as the anniversary of the Crucifixion. The term is probably a corruption of "God's Friday." It was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, possibly in allusion to the length of the services which marked the day.
The origin of the custom of a yearly commemoration of the Crucifixion is somewhat obscure. It may be regarded as certain that among Jewish Christians it almost imperceptibly grew out of the old habit of annually celebrating the Passover on the i4th of Nisan, and of observing the "days of unleavened bread" from the 15th to the 21 st of that month. In the Gentile churches, on the other hand, it seems to be well established that originally no yearly cycle of festivals was known at all. (See EASTER.) From its earliest observance, the day was marked by a specially rigorous fast, and also, on the whole, by a tendency to greater simplicity in the services of the church. Prior to the 4th century there is no evidence of non-celebration of the eucharist on Good Friday; but after that date the prohibition of communion became common. In Spain, indeed, it became customary to close the churches altogether as a sign of mourning ; but this practice was condemned by the council of Toledo (633) . In the Roman Catholic Church the Good Friday ritual at present observed is marked by many special features, most of which can be traced back to a date at least prior to the close of the 8th century (see the Ordo Romanus in Muratori's Liturg. Rom. Vet.). The altar and the officiating clergy are draped in black and the gospel for the day consists of the history of the Passion as recorded by St. John. This is often sung in plain-chant by three priests, one representing the "narrator," the other two the various characters of the story. The singing of this is followed by bidding prayers for the peace and unity of the church, for the pope, the clergy, all ranks and conditions of men, the sovereign, for catechumens, the sick and afflicted, heretics and schismatics, Jews and heathen. Then follows the "adoration of the cross." In the Church of England the history of the Passion from the gospel according to John is also read ; the collects for the day are based upon the bidding prayers which are found in the Ordo Romanus. The "three hours" service, borrowed from Roman Catholic usage and consisting of prayers, addresses on the "seven last words from the cross" and intervals for meditation and silent prayer, has become very popular in the Anglican Church, and the observance of the day is more marked than formerly among Nonconformist bodies even in Scotland.