On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at
Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost
Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good
Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, in the chanting of the
'Reproaches', in the reading of the Passion, and in receiving the pre-
consecrated Host, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord. The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door
of the empty tabernacle standing open - is as if in mourning. In the
fourth century the Apostolic Constitutions described this day as a 'day
of mourning, not a day of festive joy,' and this day was called the
'Pasch (passage) of the Crucifixion.' The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifixion
and death evidently has been in existence from the earliest days of the
Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service of Good
Friday is called the Mass of the Presanctified because Communion (in
the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy
Thursday is given to the people . Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia
at the Easter Vigil , as are all bells or other instruments, the only
music during this period being unaccompanied chant. The omission of the prayer of consecration deepens our sense of loss
because Mass throughout the year reminds us of the Lord's triumph
over death, the source of our joy and blessing. The desolate quality of
the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering
during his Passion. We can see that the parts of the Good Friday
service correspond to the divisions of Mass: Liturgy of the Word - reading of the Passion. Intercessory prayers for the Church and the entire world, Christian and
non-Christian. Veneration of the Cross Communion, or the 'Mass of the Pre-Sanctified.' The Veneration of the Cross In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of
Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment
of wood believed to be the Lord's cross had been venerated every year
on Good Friday since the fourth century. According to tradition, a part
of the Holy Cross was discovered by the mother of the emperor
Constantine, St. Helen, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326. A fifth century account describes this service in Jerusalem. A coffer of gold-
plated silver containing the wood of the cross was brought forward. The
bishop placed the relic on the a table in the chapel of the Crucifixion
and the faithful approached it, touching brow and eyes and lips to the
wood as the priest said (as every priest has done ever since): 'Behold,
the Wood of the Cross.' Adoration or veneration of an image or representation of Christ's cross
does not mean that we are actually adoring the material image, of
course, but rather what it represents. In kneeling before the crucifix and
kissing it we are paying the highest honor to the our Lord's cross as the
instrument of our salvation. Because the Cross is inseparable from His
sacrifice, in reverencing His Cross we are, in effect, adoring Christ. Thus we affirm: 'We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because
by Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World.' The Reproaches and the Reading of the Passion The Reproaches (Improperia), are often chanted by a priest during the
Good Friday service as the people are venerating the Cross. In this
haunting and poignant poem-like chant of very ancient origin, Christ
himself 'reproaches' us, making us more deeply aware of how our
sinfulness and hardness of heart caused such agony for our sinless and
loving Savior. A modern translation of the some of the Reproaches, originally in Latin follows: My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you?
Answer me!
I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
For forty years I led you safely through the desert,
I fed you with manna from heaven,
and brought you to the land of plenty; But you led your Savior to the Cross.
O, My people! What have I done to you that you should testify against
me? Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have
mercy on us. Three times during Holy Week the Passion is read - on Passion Sunday,
Holy Thursday, and Good Friday. By very ancient tradition, three
clergy read the three principal parts from the sanctuary: Jesus (always
read by a priest), Narrator, and all the other individual parts. The
people also have a role in this - we are those who condemn the Lord to
death. Hearing our own voices say 'Away with Him! Crucify him!' heightens our consciousness of our complicity by our personal
sinfulness in causing His death.

Nice post..... Proudly CATHOLIC!!!