During an April 7 Good Friday liturgy in which he venerated the cross, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory commemorated the crucifixion of Jesus and reminded the faithful that “in his final act of his dying, Christ cast Himself completely into the boundless shelter of His father’s heart.”
“Good Friday reveals just how important is the love of a father and the trust of a son,” Cardinal Gregory said, adding, “may all of us take heart in that perfect love that has made all of us free, redeemed, secure and protected.”
Marking the most solemn day in the Church calendar, Cardinal Gregory was the principal celebrant and homilist of the somber Liturgy and Passion of the Lord at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. Several hundred people attended the liturgy. It was also livestreamed over the Internet, with people following online from around the country and as far away as England, Italy, Uganda, India and Indonesia.
The cardinal noted that Jesus and God the Father “from all eternity enjoyed the perfect relationship… Jesus surrenders His life to the will of that Father who is perfect in every way; the Father receives His Son with a tender acceptance and joy.”
“This Father and Son could not have been more united in any conceivable way,” he said. “This Father and this Son love each other perfectly and trust each other completely – so much so that we are saved.”
During the liturgy, the Passion of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of John was proclaimed.
Because Good Friday commemorates Jesus's sacrificial death on the cross, it is traditionally marked by penance, prayer and public veneration of the cross by the faithful. It is a day of total abstinence from meat and also a day of fasting.
Masses are not celebrated in Catholic churches on Good Friday, and the liturgy did not include consecration of the Holy Eucharist. Communion was distributed from hosts consecrated the night before.
As part of the liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Matthew, solemn intercessions were prayed, including petitions for the Church, the pope, priests and ministers, catechumens, for the unity of the Christian faith, for those of the Jewish faith, for those of no faith, for those in public office and other intentions.
For the second year in a row, prayers were offered for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, pleading with God to “crush wars and cast down the proud…so that we, who trust in your protection, may not fear the weapons of any foe.”
Prior to the veneration of the cross, Cardinal Gregory held aloft a crucifix and processed through the cathedral. Three times he intoned, “Behold the wood of the Cross, on which has hung the salvation of the world.”
The tradition of venerating the cross dates back to the late 4th century when St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, discovered while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem a fragment of wood believed to be from Christ’s cross. The faithful came forward to reverence the fragment in a sign of respect, and the tradition continues to this day. At the cathedral, the faithful bowed or genuflected in reverence before the crucifix.
An hour before the start of the liturgy, Sister Sara Fairbanks – a Dominican Sister of Adrian, Michigan who is an associate professor of theology and preaching at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis – offered reflections on the Passion of Jesus. She was joined by the cathedral’s Schola Cantorum who sang mournful lamentations based on the seven last words of Christ.
At the end of the liturgy, Cardinal Gregory asked God to bless “your people, who have honored the death of your Son in the hope of their resurrection: may pardon come, comfort be given, holy faith increase, and everlasting redemption be made secure.”
Keeping with the somber tone of the day, the liturgy ended solemnly with Cardinal Gregory and other participants departing from the altar in reverential silence.
The remainder of Cardinal Gregory’s Easter schedule is as follows:
On Holy Saturday April 8, Cardinal Gregory will celebrate a livestreamed Easter Vigil Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral at 8 p.m.
Then on Easter Sunday April 9, the cardinal will celebrate a livestreamed Mass at the cathedral at 9 a.m.
Later on Easter Sunday, Cardinal Gregory will celebrate a noon Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception that will be televised on the Eternal Word Television Network and livestreamed on the basilica’s YouTube channel that can be linked through the National Shrine’s website at www.nationalshrine.org.
