The celebration of Good Friday supplants the calendar Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary. The Solemnity of the Annunciation is transferred this year to Monday, 4 April.
At Holy Cross Abbey, the Good Friday Psalter begins at 11:00 AM; guests are invited to participate with the community. The service lasts at least forty-five minutes. All participants, please try to follow the pace of the monks; in reciting the verses, we come to a complete stop at the end of each line, even if the idea of the sentence is continued to the next line. It’s a stylized form of recitation that was know in the middle ages as “dry singing”.
Afternoon Readings: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42
The celebration of the Lord’s Passion begins at 4:30 PM, Abbot Robert Barnes presiding. The liturgy is comprised of three parts: the liturgy of the Word with the solemn celebration of the Passion of Jesus Christ according to John; the Veneration of the Cross; Holy Communion outside the context of Mass. Except in the case of grave illness, Holy Communion may only be received on Good Friday at the celebration of the Lord’s Passion.
After the celebration the church is tripped of its nonessential furnishings. On Holy Saturday, there is no Mass until the Easter Vigil at night.