22 Facts About Good Friday

1.

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary.

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2.

Good Friday is a widely instituted legal holiday around the world, including in most Western countries and 12 U S states.

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3.

Great and Holy Good Friday is observed as a strict fast, called the Black Fast, and adult Byzantine Christians are expected to abstain from all food and drink the entire day to the extent that their health permits.

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4.

Byzantine Christian observance of Holy and Great Good Friday, which is formally known as The Order of Holy and Saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, begins on Thursday night with the Matins of the Twelve Passion Gospels.

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5.

Good Friday who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.

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6.

Vespers of Good Friday are only prayed by those who could not attend the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord.

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7.

In Lutheran tradition from the 16th to the 20th century, Good Friday was the most important religious holiday, and abstention from all worldly works was expected.

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8.

One practice among Lutheran churches is to celebrate a tenebrae service on Good Friday, typically conducted in candlelight and consisting of a collection of passion accounts from the four gospels.

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9.

The Good Friday liturgy appointed in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the worship book of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, specifies a liturgy similar to the revised Roman Catholic liturgy.

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10.

Good Friday is a holiday under state and territory laws in all states and territories in Australia.

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11.

In 2018, for example, when Good Friday fell on 30 March, only Queensland and Victoria had school holidays which coincided with Good Friday.

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12.

In Hong Kong, Good Friday was designated a public holiday in the Holidays Ordinance, 1875.

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13.

Good Friday continues to be a holiday after the transfer of sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997.

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14.

Good Friday processions take place in Birgu, Bormla, Ghaxaq, Luqa, Mosta, Naxxar, Paola, Qormi, Rabat, Senglea, Valletta, Zebbug and Zejtun.

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15.

In New Zealand, Good Friday is a legal holiday and is a day of mandatory school closure for all New Zealand state and integrated schools.

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16.

Good Friday is a restricted trading day in New Zealand, which means that unexempted shops are not permitted to open on this day.

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17.

Good Friday is a state holiday in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

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18.

Good Friday is a holiday in the U S territories of Guam, U S Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

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19.

In some governmental contexts Good Friday has been referred to by a generic name such as "spring holiday".

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20.

Good Friday is the Friday before Easter, which is calculated differently in Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity.

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21.

Good Friday assumes a particular importance in the plot of Richard Wagner's music drama Parsifal, which contains an orchestral interlude known as the "Good Friday Music".

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22.

Some Baptist congregations, the Philadelphia Church of God, and some non-denominational churches oppose the observance of Good Friday, regarding it as a so-called "papist" tradition, and instead observe the Crucifixion of Jesus on Wednesday to coincide with the Jewish sacrifice of the Passover Lamb.

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