Catholic Good Friday (Good Friday)
Description:
The execution of the crucifixion on the cross was the most shameful, the most painful and the most cruel. Such a death was executed in those days only the most notorious villains: robbers, murderers, rebels and criminal slaves.
The suffering of a crucified man cannot be described. In addition to the unbearable pains in all parts of the body and suffering, the crucified had a terrible thirst and a deadly mental longing.
Death was so slow that many suffered on crosses for several days. Even the executioners, usually cruel men, could not look coldly at the suffering of the crucified. They prepared a drink with which they tried either to quench their unbearable thirst, or by admixture of various substances temporarily dull their consciousness and relieve their suffering.
According to Jewish law, a man hanged by a roar was considered cursed. The leaders of the Jews wanted to disgrace Jesus Christ forever by convicting Him to such a death.
When they brought Jesus to Calvary, the soldiers gave Him sour wine mixed with bitter substances to relieve suffering. When God tried it, he did not want to drink it. He did not want to use any means to alleviate suffering. He was willing to accept these sufferings for the sins of people; therefore, he wanted to endure them to the end.
When everything was ready, the soldiers crucified Jesus Christ. It was about noon, Hebrew at 6 p.m. When they crucified Him, He prayed for His tormentors, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
At the cross of the Savior stood His Mother, the Apostle John, Mary Magdalene, and several other women who venerated Him. It is impossible to describe the sorrow of the mother of God, who saw the unbearable torment of her Son!
Jesus Christ, seeing his mother and John standing here, whom he especially loved, said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to John, “Look, your mother.” From that time on, John took the Mother of God to his house and took care of her for the rest of her life.
Meanwhile, during the suffering of the Savior, a great sign occurred at Calvary. From the hour when the Savior was crucified, i.e., from the sixth hour (and according to our account from the twelfth hour of the day), the sun became dark and there was darkness throughout the earth, and continued until the death of the Savior.
This extraordinary, universal darkness was marked by pagan historian writers: the Roman astronomer Phlegon, Fall, and Junius Africanus. The famous philosopher of Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite, was at this time in Egypt, in the city of Heliopolis; observing the sudden darkness, he said: "Either the Creator suffers, or the world is destroyed." Dionysius the Areopagite subsequently converted to Christianity and was the first Athenian bishop.