Good Friday is the quietest day of the ecclesiastical year: the day of Jesus' condemnation, torture, death, and burial. The Church – based on an ancient tradition – does not celebrate the sacrifice of the Holy Mass on this day or the next. We commemorate the day when the Eternal High Priest Himself offered His sacrifice on the altar of the cross. The altar, symbolising Jesus, is completely unadorned: there is no cross, no altar cloth, and no candles on it. Ferenc Palánki, Bishop of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, celebrated the Good Friday service in the Co-Cathedral of Our Lady of Hungary in Nyíregyháza with István Németh, episcopal secretary, and the priests, acolytes, and altar servers of the parish.
At the beginning of the service, the priests, dressed in red vestments, silently processed to the altar with the altar servers, and then prostrated themselves before the altar. The prostration of the priests on the ground represents Christ emptying Himself, identifying with humanity and the earth. The altar now is Golgotha itself.
In the Liturgy of the Word, we heard the mystery of Jesus' passion and then the story of His suffering from the Gospel of John, performed by the parish's Bárdos Lajos Choir.
In his homily, the Chief Shepherd reflects annually on the words Jesus spoke on the cross. Now he has arrived at Jesus' seventh and final saying: "It is finished" (Jn 19:30)
Bishop Ferenc Palánki's sermon can be heard here:
The Universal Prayers (General Intercessions) were offered for the members of the Church and for the whole world: for all believers, for those preparing for baptism, for Christian unity, for the people of the Old Covenant (for the Jews), for those separated from the Church, for non-believers, as well as for the leaders of the country, society, the world, and especially for the suffering.
After this, the veil was removed from the crucifix that had been covered on Passion Sunday (Black Sunday), and the Veneration of the Cross began: the faithful kissed it and knelt before the crucifix, on which the Saviour who suffered for us is visible.
The service concluded after the recitation of the Our Father with the Holy Communion. After this, the Holy Sepulchre (repository of the Blessed Sacrament) was opened. The Chief Shepherd proceeded to the Holy Sepulchre and prayed in silence for a few minutes, then the faithful also prayed before the Holy Sepulchre and kept a silent vigil on this day.
