English is, together with Dutch, one of the few languages that call Good Friday ‘good’. While one could say that Good Friday is the saddest day of the year for Christians, the Church uses the word ‘Good’ to show that Christ has died to liberate everyone from sin and that suffering and death are not pointless.
Other languages use other names for this day.
In Israel, Good Friday is known as “Big Friday.” In Germany it is “Sad Friday”. In Malta, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia (and Eastern Orthodox Church in general) the day is called Great Friday.
In Latin America, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal the day is called “Holy Friday”; in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands and Iceland it is “Long Friday”
