HOLY WEEK- GOOD FRIDAY-2011

GOOD FRIDAY-2011

         Good Friday was the day on which Jesus died. Good Friday is a Friday before Easter Sunday. It is a religious day on which Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death. It is believed that lord died on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday. Good Friday is called so because christen believe that Jesus sacrificed his life for humanity and good of everyone. Christians in Kerala today, 22nd, April, 2011, observed Good Friday with day-long prayers, abstaining all worldly comforts to commemorate the sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

        Devotees congregated in large numbers in churches, where senior prelates led special prayers to mark the day. "Stations of the Cross" processions were taken out in towns and villages across the state with devotees bearing wooden crosses depicting the final hours of Jesus from his condemnation to the laying of the body in the tomb after crucifixion on the mount Calvary. Hundreds of Pilgrims bearing crosses ascended St Thomas Church atop the hillock at Malayattoor in Ernakulum district, believed to have been sanctified by the visit of Apostle St Thomas, who preached Christ's message in India. The Catholic as well as Eastern Christian denominations in Kerala trace their origin to the landing of St Thomas on the Kerala coast to preach the gospel in the first century AD. Good Friday also marks the most important day of the season of Lent, when the faithful lead a frugal life shunning all luxury and physical comforts to gain spiritual strength.

Prof. John Kurakar