Good Friday 2021: This year Good Friday is on 2nd April, know all about the big day for Christians
Good Friday is on 2nd April. Good Friday, observed before Easter, is the day when Christians commemorate Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Good Friday is observed by Christians as a day of penance, grief and fasting. Good Fridayalso marks the end of the 40-day period of fasting for Christians, called the Lent. This year, Lent is on Saturday, April 3, the day before Easter Sunday. The entire holy week for Christians started with Palm Sunday (29th March) and will end on Easter Monday on 5th April. Easter Monday is also called 'Bright Monday' or the 'Renewal Monday'. Many of you may be thinking if Good Friday marks the 'Crucifixion of Christ', then is it "Good"?
Why is the day of 'Crucifixion of Jesus Christ' called Good Friday?
According to an article in the BBC, ''The earliest known use of 'Guode Friday' is found in The South English Legendary, a text from around 1290...According to the Baltimore Catechism - the standard US Catholic school text from 1885 to the 1960s - Good Friday is good because Christ 'showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing'''. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907, says the ''origins are not clear''. Some look at it as ''God's Friday" or ''Gottes Freitag''. Some sources also say that the day is known as "the Holy and Great Friday" in the Greek and "Holy Friday" in Roman language.
The importance of Easter
Easter is the perhaps the most important Christian festival of the year. It is the day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was resurrected and he came back to life on Easter Sunday. In modern times, Easter has attained great importance and markets and malls and confectionary shops are flooded with Easter goodies. Easter - commemorating the Resurrection of Christ - comes from the old English 'eastre', a spring festival.