Wearing black, hot cross buns: 7 Good Friday traditions

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, April 15, 2022

Fasting

In the Roman Catholic tradition, Good Friday is considered a day in which Catholics are to fast and abstain from meat, with the rules on fasting varying within the global Church.

“For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal,” according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the ‘paschal fast’ to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection.”