What is Orthodox Good Friday?
Orthodox Good Friday, called Great and Holy Friday in the Orthodox churches, commemorates the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. It is the most solemn day of the Orthodox year. The Divine Liturgy is not celebrated, clergy wear black, and the services consist of long readings, the taking down of the body of Christ from the cross, and an evening procession in which the epitaphios, a cloth icon of Christ's body lying in a decorated bier that represents the tomb, is carried around the church. The services of Holy Friday follow those of Holy Thursday evening, when the Twelve Passion Gospels are read.
Many observant Orthodox Christians fast strictly on this day, taking little or no food until evening, and in some countries it is traditional not to do housework or cook. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Lebanon, the two places where the site lists it, the day is recognised for the Orthodox community, with the faithful gathering for the evening procession. In churches, believers bow beneath or kiss the epitaphios as it lies in the centre of the church. In 2027 the day falls on 30 April, and Western Good Friday was a month earlier, on 26 March.
Why it is observed
The commemoration of Christ's death on a Friday goes back to the earliest centuries of Christianity, and the Holy Week services were developed in the fourth century in Jerusalem, where pilgrims followed the places of the events. The Orthodox service preserves this heritage with the twelve Gospel readings on Thursday night and the procession of the epitaphios on Friday. Because the date follows Orthodox Easter, it uses the Julian calculation and in most years falls later than Western Good Friday, with which it coincides only when the two Easters fall on the same Sunday.
How the date is set
Orthodox Good Friday is the Friday before Orthodox Easter Sunday, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Julian-calendar date of 21 March. In the civil calendar it falls between 2 April and 6 May.
How it is observed
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Orthodox Good Friday is a day off for members of the Orthodox community, and arrangements depend on the entity, so it is worth checking locally. In Lebanon, which recognises the holidays of each Christian community, the site lists Orthodox Good Friday as a public holiday, separately from Catholic Good Friday. In some other countries, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Cyprus among them, Good Friday on the Orthodox date is a general public holiday, while in many it is a normal working day. In Orthodox areas many shops and cafés close or open late. Pay and time off depend on the law and the contract.
Sources
Bosnia & Herzegovina