Carmen Álvarez Cuadrado
Trans. Charlotte Twetten
Can you imagine a pope walking barefoot in the middle of a church? Well, believe it or not, this happens once a year on Good Friday, during the Passion of the Lord… Take a close look at Pope Benedict XVI…
As you can see, he’s not only without his signature red shoes, he’s also not wearing the chasuble—and for the more observant, look at his hands...He isn’t wearing the Fisherman’s Ring, symbolizing his role as Peter’s successor.
FR. JUAN MANUEL ESTRADA
Liturgy Expert
At the moment of the veneration of the cross, the liturgical norm in the Ceremonial of Bishops says that the bishop—the pope—should remove the chasuble, take off his shoes, go barefoot, and venerate the cross as a gesture and a sign of true adoration of God in humility and in the humbling of his person.
The pope also does not carry the pastoral staff—another item that symbolizes his role as bishop. All this to signal respect for Christ's suffering.
This day commemorates the passion and death of Christ, and the ceremony remembers this suffering through stripping away liturgical items: the altar cloths are removed and the bells fall silent.
Good Friday is full of fascinating details. To begin with, Mass is forbidden, which only occurs once a year, and instead, the veneration of the cross takes place.
FR. JUAN MANUEL ESTRADA
Liturgy Expert
Why isn’t the Eucharist celebrated? Because we are contemplating the mystery of the Lord’s death. The Eucharist must be celebrated by a priest. And the only priest we have in the Church is Jesus Christ.
If we are contemplating the death of the one who is the High Priest, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega—the one who gives foundation to the sacrament of the Eucharist—then we priests cannot celebrate the Eucharist.
There is another specific tradition that the faithful witness on this day, similar in tone with the lack of shoes or ring—and it is striking. The bishop, including the pope himself, prostrates himself on the ground as a gesture of silence and prayer, solemnly mourning for the death of Jesus Christ.
Given that there is no Mass on Good Friday, however, many people might wonder how the faithful still receive Communion. The answer is more simple than it seems.
On Holy Thursday, after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the consecrated bread is set aside – this is called the reservation. Since there is no consecration on Good Friday, Communion is distributed using the hosts from the previous day.
The hosts are kept in a very special place called the 'Eucharistic monument'. Let’s first look at its original meaning.
FR. JUAN MANUEL ESTRADA
Liturgy Expert
“Monument” means tomb. So the Body of the Lord—because the Lord is present in the Eucharist—was taken and placed in the tomb, in the monument.
Today, its meaning has evolved. Now it is a Eucharistic altar that serves as a tabernacle to keep the consecrated bread.
FR. JUAN MANUEL ESTRADA
Liturgy Expert
It is no longer a monument in the sense of a tomb. In fact, liturgical norms specify: a suitable place should be prepared to reserve the Eucharist, which will be used the following day, Good Friday, when Mass is not celebrated. So this “monument,” so to speak, is prepared as a special place for adoration of the Eucharist.
So, how did we develop these liturgical traditions? It was Pope Pius XII who officially established that the faithful could receive Communion on Good Friday. Before then, only the priest could.
He also changed the time for celebrating the Passion of the Lord. It used to take place in the morning, but he established that it should be held between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., to better reflect the hour of Jesus’ death.
From this celebration the faithful move onto the Stations of the Cross—another high point of Holy Week. In the Vatican context, Pope Paul VI was the first pope to celebrate it at the Colosseum in 1964, since the Colosseum represents the site where so many Christian martyrs died for their faith.
