Display of Christ statue on Good Friday

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LadybugR

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We have a new pastor. On Good Friday, after the communion service, a life size statue of Christ’s body, battered, bloody, and lying on a palette was carried in to the church with an announcement that all were free to remain with the body as long as we chose.
I don’t believe anyone stayed longer than a moment and it felt very awkward.

I’ve only been Catholic for 6 years, and was not familiar with this practice. It felt quite awkward. I’m wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
 
Yes, certainly. It’s a time-honored Catholic practice.

It’s proper timing is after the Good Friday service----so your priest did it the right way.

It’s a statue of Christ in the Tomb. It’s not meant to be merely a representation of the body of Christ without the wood of the cross, but very specifically to remind us that His body did indeed lie in the tomb from the time it was removed from the cross (3 PM on Good Friday) until the resurrection in the night of early Easter Sunday morning.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Yes, certainly. It’s a time-honored Catholic practice.

It’s proper timing is after the Good Friday service----so your priest did it the right way.

It’s a statue of Christ in the Tomb. It’s not meant to be merely a representation of the body of Christ without the wood of the cross, but very specifically to remind us that His body did indeed lie in the tomb from the time it was removed from the cross (3 PM on Good Friday) until the resurrection in the night of early Easter Sunday morning.
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Agree.
 
They can be powerful images (I mean that in the artistic sense, not that they are magic!)

The most famous one is the image of the Pieta, copied innumerable times over the centuries.



No one would ever hesitate to call this a Catholic statue, I promise you that!

Although, I suspect this is more along the lines of what you mean as a specific Good Friday statue
 
Religious practices like the one you described are not very common in the USA.
In Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines there is the beautiful custom of having processions with the the statues of the Crucified Lord and other saints related to the Passion during Holy Week.
Here are some nice pictures to show you how important these processions are,

El Santo Entierro in Seville.


The Philippines
 
LadybugR said:
We have a new pastor. On Good Friday, after the communion service, a life size statue of Christ’s body, battered, bloody, and lying on a palette was carried in to the church with an announcement that all were free to remain with the body as long as we chose.
I don’t believe anyone stayed longer than a moment and it felt very awkward.

I’ve only been Catholic for 6 years, and was not familiar with this practice. It felt quite awkward. I’m wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
Click to expand...
It’s called the Santo Entierro and is a common devotinal practice in Catholic nations of Spanish heritage. It’s an affirmation of the article of faith that states that Jesus was indeed dead and buried while his soul was in the hell of the Fathers.
 
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