THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The evolution of the church year - and the important place that Good Friday has in it - began with the weekly celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord; every Sunday was the occasion for celebrating the raising of Christ from the dead. When an annual celebration - Easter - of Christ's triumph over the grave came to be observed, it included Saturday and Friday; thus, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday formed the sacred Triduum, which led into the great fifty-day celebration of the Pasch. As Lent began to take shape, the Triduum changed so that it started with Holy Thursday, plus Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Today, Good Friday remembers the death of Jesus on the cross, Holy Saturday recalls the time he spent in the tomb, and Saturday night, in the E…