Good Friday Meaning: A Solemn Day With a Puzzling Name

Good Friday meaning in Christian belief

The Gospels in the New Testament describe Jesus being arrested, tried and crucified outside Jerusalem, and dying on the cross on the day before the Sabbath, that is, a Friday. Good Friday marks that day.

For most Christians the day carries a double meaning. It is a time of grief, remembering suffering and death. It is also a day of deep gratitude, because Christian teaching holds that Jesus' death was a sacrifice that made forgiveness and reconciliation with God possible. Theologians describe this with words such as atonement, redemption and salvation. Good Friday is never seen on its own; believers keep it with Easter Sunday in mind, when they celebrate the resurrection.

Why is it called Good Friday?

Nearly everyone who hears the name asks this. In older English, good could mean holy or pious, and it was used for days set apart by the church. Language historians widely accept that this is the source of the name.

A popular explanation says the name started as God's Friday. There is no good evidence for that; good and God are separate words with different histories. Christians also explain the name through faith: they see the day as good because of what they believe Jesus' death achieved, even though the events themselves were terrible.

Other languages name the day differently. Many Eastern churches call it Great and Holy Friday, and the usual German name, Karfreitag, is built on an old Germanic root meaning lament or sorrow.

How churches and families keep the day

Customs vary by church and country, but common practices include:

• Fasting and simple food. Catholics are asked to fast and avoid meat; many other Christians also eat plainly or fast.
• Afternoon services. Many services are held around three in the afternoon, the hour the Gospels connect with Jesus' death. Some churches hold a three hour service from noon.
• The Stations of the Cross. A series of prayers at fourteen scenes of Jesus' final journey, sometimes acted out as a street procession.
• Veneration of the cross. In Catholic and some other churches, worshippers come forward to honor a cross. Catholic churches do not celebrate Mass that day.
• Quiet and bare churches. Altars may be stripped, bells silenced and decorations removed until Easter.

In Britain and some other countries, hot cross buns, sweet spiced buns marked with a cross, are a traditional Good Friday food.

When Good Friday falls each year

Good Friday moves because Easter moves. In Western churches, Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, as fixed by church rules, so it falls between 22 March and 25 April. Good Friday is two days earlier, between 20 March and 23 April.

Orthodox and many other Eastern churches calculate Easter using the older Julian calendar, so their Good Friday is often a week or more later, though in some years both dates match. Good Friday is part of Holy Week: Palm Sunday, then Maundy Thursday (remembering the Last Supper), Good Friday, Holy Saturday and finally Easter Sunday.

Good Friday as a public holiday

In India, Good Friday is a national gazetted holiday, so banks, government offices and schools are closed across the country. In the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and many other countries it is a public or bank holiday as well.

Across the United States, Good Friday is not a federal holiday, but some states, many schools and most financial markets close, and churches hold special services. The term also appears in history: the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal for Northern Ireland, was reached on Good Friday in 1998 and is named after the day.

Greetings and respectful usage

Because the day is solemn, many Christians do not say Happy Good Friday. Phrases such as Have a blessed Good Friday or Wishing you a peaceful Good Friday are more common, and some prefer simply to say they are keeping the day in prayer. Happy Easter is the cheerful greeting, saved for Sunday.

Always write the name with capital letters: Good Friday. Explore related terms such as grace and faith in our faith and belief section, where each tradition's words are explained in its own terms.