Why is Good Friday 'good'? 5 things to know about the annual observance

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, March 29, 2024

Different date for Orthodox Churches

Egyptian Coptic Christian worshippers carry crosses during a procession along the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday during Holy Week in Jerusalem's Old City April 10, 2015. Christian worshippers on Friday retraced the route Jesus took along Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter. | Reuters/Ammar Awad

Like other Christian holy days, such as Christmas and Easter, many Eastern Orthodox Christians observe Good Friday on a different date than Western churches.

Orthodox Christians typically use the Julian calendar for their liturgical year instead of the Gregorian calendar common among Western nations.

For 2023, Good Friday is scheduled to fall on April 14, with Orthodox Easter being on April 16, according to National Today, which also states that it "goes by many other names and it is a strict day of fasting for Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States."

"Some Orthodox Churches begin observing it on Thursday night when the 12 sections of the Gospels are read and some churches have a Good Friday liturgy in the evening," the site notes.

"Many priests remove icons of Jesus Christ from the crosses and wrap them in linen to reenact the burial rites. Moreover, some Bulgarian churches allow people to pass under a table in the middle of the church to light a candle after the ringing of the church bell. They say this symbolizes the washing away of one's sins."