Good Friday service?

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Can someone describe what Good Friday service is like? I read that there is no Eucharist, but what else is different from a regular Mass? Also, I read that the cross is venerated. What does that entail exactly?
 
I have only been to one so far, and I don’t remember a lot, so others will have to fill in the blanks, but there actually is communion. At the Holy Thursday Mass, the priest consecrates enough hosts to be distributed during the Good Friday service. Veneration of the cross is exactly what it sounds like. Be advised that the veneration of the cross involves everyone lining up to kiss or otherwise touch the cross. (I was a little caught off guard by this one). There are a few catholic Good Friday services posted on YouTube - you could check one out to get an idea. I’d be willing to be you could also find a video of venerating the cross also.

I know Good Friday is a popular service to attend. I would just like to put in a plug for Holy Thursday Mass. It is a really beautiful celebration!
 
The other element is the singing of the Passion Gospel, and there is usually an anthem like the Lamentations during the Veneration of the Cross. And the hymns “There is a Green Hill far away” and “When I survey the wondrous cross”.
 
The Good Friday liturgy consists of three parts
  1. Liturgy of the Word
    -The liturgy begins with the priest and ministers approaching the sanctuary. The priest then prostrates or kneels, while all others kneel.
    -A prayer is then said
    -Readings (1st, Resp Ps, 2nd)
    -The Passion Narrative according to St. John
    -Homily
    -Solemn intercessions (An elongated form of the general intercessions used for that day)
  2. The Adoration of the Cross
    -Unveiling or Processing the Cross
    -Veneration by the faithful
  3. Holy Communion
    -Our Father
    -No sign of peace
    -Communion
    -Postcommunion
    -Prayer over the People
    -Departure in silence
 
We generally enter in silence.

The readings are as done as usual, though the Gospel is a Passion account-read in parts like it is done on Passion/Palm Sunday.

There is a collection taken.

The Cross is venerated. A Cross is processed from the entrance of the church towards the front of the church. When it arrives, the priest and the servers or assistants venerate (kiss [mostly], bow before, touch with their forehead or hand, whatever is their preference) the Cross. Then all assembled come forward to also venerate the Cross. (If people kiss the Cross, a cloth is used to wipe the spot they’ve just kissed.)

Prayers are said, including the Our Father.

The Eucharist, which has been reserved from Holy Thursday’s Mass, is distributed to those who are properly disposed to receive Holy Communion.

The people are blessed and recess either in song or in silence. (We sing “Were You There?”)
 
Same here except the priest., deacons and servers prostrate themselves at the beginning.
Also, we don’t take up any collections during Holy Week.
During the elongated Intercessions ( you can read them out of a missalette if they have them available) the Deacon intones: “Let us kneel”…and people kneel for a brief time while silently praying over what was just read, and then “Let us Stand”. moving on to the next intention. There are several. This action is one of my pet peeves about Holy Week.
Not that they are done, they are beautiful, but that the people in the pews seem to never remember that we do it, and they knock down the kneelers, then clunk them back up again, and this goes on and on for each one, maybe about the 7th or 8th time, the light bulb goes off in some heads “Oh, I’ll bet this goes on for several intercessions, maybe I should just leave the kneeler down!” :mad: It just makes so much noise, is so irreverent, and so distracting.
Sorry for the mini-rant. 😦
But Good Friday is one of my favorite services.
Catholics in good standing do have an opportunity to receive Holy Communion, they distribute hosts that were consecrated the evening before at the Mass of The Lord’s Supper" specifically for Good Friday. There is NO MASS on Good Friday. The Tabernacle is standing open because He is not there. They have taken Him to Calvary. The reserved hosts are in the smaller tabernacle at the Altar of Repose where they had Adoration until midnight after Holy Thursday Mass The Altar or Repose is a separate place ( a side chapel or some other suitable place at the church) representing the Garden of Gethsemane.

All in all, it’s a deeply moving experience.
Hope you go!
God bless you!
 
My songs for Friday will be:

Jesus Remember Me (veneration)
Were You There (communion)
Perdona Tu Pueblo (??)
 
pianistclare said:
Same here except the priest., deacons and servers prostrate themselves at the beginning.
Also, we don’t take up any collections during Holy Week.
During the elongated Intercessions ( you can read them out of a missalette if they have them available) the Deacon intones: “Let us kneel”…and people kneel for a brief time while silently praying over what was just read, and then “Let us Stand”. moving on to the next intention. There are several. This action is one of my pet peeves about Holy Week.
Not that they are done, they are beautiful, but that the people in the pews seem to never remember that we do it, and they knock down the kneelers, then clunk them back up again, and this goes on and on for each one, maybe about the 7th or 8th time, the light bulb goes off in some heads “Oh, I’ll bet this goes on for several intercessions, maybe I should just leave the kneeler down!” :mad: It just makes so much noise, is so irreverent, and so distracting.
Sorry for the mini-rant. 😦
But Good Friday is one of my favorite services.
Catholics in good standing do have an opportunity to receive Holy Communion, they distribute hosts that were consecrated the evening before at the Mass of The Lord’s Supper" specifically for Good Friday. There is NO MASS on Good Friday. The Tabernacle is standing open because He is not there. They have taken Him to Calvary. The reserved hosts are in the smaller tabernacle at the Altar of Repose where they had Adoration until midnight after Holy Thursday Mass The Altar or Repose is a separate place ( a side chapel or some other suitable place at the church) representing the Garden of Gethsemane.

All in all, it’s a deeply moving experience.
Hope you go!
God bless you!
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Well, this banging of kneelers is a tradition in the Church, you know. It’s not irreverent as no irreverence is intended–it’s just noisy. Since there is nothing you can do about it, and never will be able to do about it, learn to laugh about it and remember that no one is perfect and all of us do things that irritate others and we do not mean to.
 
pianistclare said:
This action is one of my pet peeves about Holy Week.
Not that they are done, they are beautiful, but that the people in the pews seem to never remember that we do it, and they knock down the kneelers, then clunk them back up again, and this goes on and on for each one, maybe about the 7th or 8th time, the light bulb goes off in some heads “Oh, I’ll bet this goes on for several intercessions, maybe I should just leave the kneeler down!” :mad: It just makes so much noise, is so irreverent, and so distracting.
Sorry for the mini-rant. 😦
Click to expand...
That’s why I always preferred the kneelers I grew up with which weren’t fixed to the pews so no putting them up and down.

I must say that in my parish we haven’t knelt at that time for several years and in my St. Joseph Missal it’s given as an option.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Well, this banging of kneelers is a tradition in the Church, you know. It’s not irreverent as no irreverence is intended–it’s just noisy. Since there is nothing you can do about it, and never will be able to do about it, learn to laugh about it and remember that no one is perfect and all of us do things that irritate others and we do not mean to.
Click to expand...
I just enjoy the “Catholic” sound of it - - you certainly never hear that in a Protestant church! And if the kneelers are banging on a hard surface, lucky you! You probably have good acoustics in your church, rather than a carpeted “dead” space.
 
At my parish, Father simply told people they could either stand or kneel for the intercessions. People did one or the other for the whole thing without getting up and down again after each intercession. It seemed to work.
 
Many people at my Church put the kneelers down right as we started and kept them there. (this has been a pet peeve of mine in the past) They just stood with the kneeler down.
 
marytk said:
Many people at my Church put the kneelers down right as we started and kept them there. (this has been a pet peeve of mine in the past) They just stood with the kneeler down.
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I put the kneeler down when I slip into the pew and I put it back up as I leave. I see no point to keep playing with it.
 
Good Friday service is also called the Mass of Pre Sanctified Gifts.
 
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