Happy Good Friday: Quotes, Wishes, Messages, Images, Date, and More

Many Christians of various denominations greet the new sprouts of spring annually, with the celebration of Lent, a pious observation for six weeks according to the Christian calendar, where they commemorate Jesus' life, death and resurrection by fasting or giving up on something. And as the season of Lent comes to an end, Good Friday is observed by the Christians worldwide. It falls on the Friday just after Holy Thursday and before Easter Sunday. 

What is Good Friday?

Also known as the 'Holy Friday', Good Friday is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified. Christians from all across the world belonging to different sects like the Catholics, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican celebrate Good Friday with church services and fasting. It is more of a mourning day, a day of grief and penance for the Christians. The crucifix is the most important symbol observed on this day because it represents the way in which Christ was crucified. The cross is also another important symbol personifying the figure of Jesus himself. Besides black clothes used to cover the cross and people appearing in plain clothes without flowers, various paintings and statues of Christ are also a symbol used in the churches on this day. 

History of Good Friday

There are numerous explanations and historical contexts as to why Jesus' death became known as Good Friday. Every year, this day comes between 20th March and 23rd April on the Christian calendar. Judas, Jesus' disciple, is said to have betrayed him shortly after the Last Supper. As a result, he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane by temple guards and crucified by Pontius Pilate on charges of claiming to be God's son. According to numerous scholars from various places throughout the world, the crucifixion occurred on a Friday in the year 33 AD. Jesus is also said to have stayed on the cross from 9 am to 3 pm. The Passion of Christ refers to the entire process of punishment and suffering. Good Friday is one of the three days that comprise the Easter Triduum, a liturgical period that includes Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. It is also believed that when Jesus was crucified, he took all of humanity's sins with him and that as a result of his selfless sacrifice, people can go to heaven after death. Christ's sacrifice represents his atonement for all who have sinned. 

Good Friday 2023 Date

When is Good Friday 2023?

Good Friday for the year 2023 is celebrated/observed on Friday, April 7th.

Good Friday dates for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026

During a gazetted holiday, government offices and most businesses remain closed, so people have a day off work and can enjoy the celebration.

Good Friday Quotes

• So shall we join the disciples of our Lord, keeping faith in Him in spite of the crucifixion, and making ready, by our loyalty to Him in the days of His darkness, for the time when we shall enter into His triumph in the days of His light? -Philip Ledyard Cuyler
• May on this Good Friday we start it with Fasting & Prayers so that we can bring God’s mercy & forgiveness on all mankind. Let’s Pray together.
• The marvel of heaven and earth, of time and eternity, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation. -Charles Spurgeon
• Good Friday… Way of the Cross. Fasting and abstinence…. Examine conscience. Have a really blessed day. -Unknown
• What is good about Good Friday? Why isn’t it called Bad Friday? Because out of the appallingly bad came what was inexpressibly good. And the good trumps the bad, because though the bad was temporary, the good is eternal. -Randy Alcorn
• Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday. -Fulton J. Sheen
• Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. -Napoleon Bonaparte
• Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime. – Martin Luther
• A man who was completely innocent offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. –Mahatma Gandhi
• Good Friday is a day of hope. It is a day where we look forward to a brighter tomorrow. Many things have happened to change the course of our lives, but it has not shaken our faith.
• Good Friday marks the slaying of our Jesus, The unblemished lamb, the perfect sacrifice. He took our guilt and blamed upon Himself. -Unknown
• Good Friday is the mirror held up by Jesus so that we can see ourselves in all our stark reality, and then it turns us to that cross and to his eyes and we hear these words, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. That’s us! -Robert G. Trache
• Death is the justification of all the ways of the Christian, the last end of all his sacrifices, the touch of the Great Master which completes the picture. -Madame Anne Sophie Swetchine
• The cross of Christ shows us that God’s love is of deepest descent… universal distribution… and of eternal duration. -Dr. Fred Barlow
• Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime. -Martin Luther
• Stoning prophets and erecting churches to their memory afterward has been the way of the world through the ages. Today we worship Christ, but the Christ in the flesh we crucified. – Mahatma Gandhi
• Good Friday is not about us trying to get right with God. It is about us entering the difference between God and humanity and just touching it for a moment. Touching the shimmering sadness of humanity’s insistence that we can be our own gods, that we can be pure and all-powerful. -Nadia Bolz-Weber
• No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown. -William Penn
• I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ to me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment. –Mother Teresa
• The way of the cross is the way of suffering. Christians are called to die, not kill, in order to show the world how they are loved by Christ. -John Piper
• Our old history ends with the cross, our new history begins with the resurrection. -Watchman Nee
• The marvel of heaven and earth, of time and eternity, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation. -C. H. Spurgeon
• Christ has not only spoken to us by his life but has also spoken for us by his death. -Soren Kierkegaard
• Mercy, peace, and love. May the grace and Lord surround and be with you on Good Friday
• Good Friday marks the slaying of our Jesus. The unblemished lamb, the perfect sacrifice. He took our guilt and blame upon Himself so we could be with Him in paradise. -Anonymous

Good Friday Wishes

• Good Friday is beautiful because it reminds us that we matter to the great Lord. Have a divine Good Friday!
• Mercy, peace and love. May the grace and Lord surround and be with you on Good Friday.
• May the faith you have in God brings unimpeded peace and happiness to your heart. Have a blessed Good Friday with your family.
• Happy Good Friday! May God turn this Good Friday into a blissful beginning of your life. May God fill your life with goodness on this holy day.
• May God turn this Good Friday into a blissful beginning of your life
• I’m praying to Lord that he keeps you safe always and surrounds your life with eternal love and happiness. Wishing you a Holy Good Friday!
• Wishing you all a blessed and beatified good Friday with the hope that God’s great love will remain unchanged for you. Make the most of this good Friday with family and prayers.
• For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. – Mark 9:31

Good Friday Messages

• May the love of Jesus fill your heart with heavenly bliss and holy desires for now and forever. Wishing you a Holy Good Friday my friend!
• On this holy Good Friday, I wish nothing but best for you. May Jesus Christ born again in our heart and you will always be loved and protected by him.
• May God fill your life with goodness on this holy day. Happy Good Friday 2022
• Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. – Isaiah 60:1-2
• May all of us be blessed with the goodness of Good Friday on this auspicious day and always
• For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. – John 3:16
• He hung, bled and died proving his love for us. Nothing can beat his sacrifice for humankind. I hope we can hold the faith he deserves. Good Friday.
• Jesus Christ bore all in silence because he accepted us in him. I hope we can return the same to him.

Significance of Good Friday

The word 'good' in Good Friday signifies something pious or holy. Though Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday, the Bible says that the 'son of God' was resurrected on Easter. This represents that good always triumphs, and the fact that he went through so much suffering for humanity's sins demonstrates how much he loved everyone. The significance of Good Friday is very widely mentioned in the holy books of the Christian, which explain that the good news of the gospel is considered only if one understands the connotation of the bad news. This means that it is only when sinful people are condemned does the good news of deliverance makes sense. Despite the terrible events that took place on this day, Good Friday is considered 'good' because it ushers in the joy of Easter. It is also believed that God deposited out his anger on sins over Christ in an attempt to confer atonement and sanctification upon all people. If the tragedy of Christ and Good Friday had not involved pain, despair and loss of blood at the cross, then God would not have come to be lauded as the one and only justifier of those people who put their faith in Christ. On the contrary, Good Friday only symbolises Divinity's purpose to liberate the world from tyranny so that the good prevails and triumphs over the evil. 

Ways of celebration of Good Friday

• Good Friday is marked by fasting and prayer in various Christian sects.
• The activities in the Church are usually held in mid-noon in order to remember the hours (till 3 pm) when Jesus laid crucified on the cross.
• Participants in some Christian denominations, basically the Catholics, attend special Church services and prayers while observing a partial fast with the prohibition of consuming meat.
• In Belgium and Mexico, the churches' statues are covered in black clothes, and people keep up a silent tone. They also wear black clothes in order to show their mourning and grief.
• Some people also completely cut themselves off from social media, television and phone on Good Friday.
• Some spend the day remembering the last seven words spoken by Jesus Christ and pray to the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
• In countries like Spain and the Philippines, people participate in a demonstration or a parade while carrying a cross along to pay tribute and commemorate Christ's death. 
• In Jerusalem, people take crosses on their backs and walk to the site of Christ's crucifixion.
• In Vatican City, the Pope places a massive Cross outside the Colosseum for the Catholics who travel there from all over the world to light candles in memory of Jesus' sacrifice for humanity.
• Various passion plays are performed in Trafalgar Square, London, where thousands of people gather to watch the plays depicting Christ's crucifixion.

Some places in India where Good Friday is widely celebrated are as follows:

Goa

Most of the people in Goa are of Christian faith, and hence there are a lot of churches present in the place. Every single church celebrates the holy occasion of Good Friday with a procession nearby the beaches till Easter Sunday.

Mumbai

The churches in the city hold various rituals of prayers and mass gatherings in order to honour the Lord.

Kochi

Almost the majority of Kerala's population consist of the Christian faith. The churches are decorated in order to honour the sacrifice of Christ. Various shopping malls start offering Easter goodies while the hotels and restaurants provide special Easter delicacies. 

Mizoram

In North-East India, various states consist of a good number of people believing in Christian rites and rituals. But amongst all, Aizwal, the capital of Mizoram, has a great number of Christian followers. The churches in the city are seen to organise special prayers, and they sing different hymns from the Holy Book in order to pay tribute to their Lord.

Puducherry

Good Friday is also observed in huge mass in Puducherry. The Sacred Heart Basilica arrange a Church festival every year on this day, and devotees attend to offer prayer and remind themselves of the sacrifice Jesus did for the sake of humanity.

Some interesting facts about Good Friday

• Good Friday is also known as 'Black Friday', 'Mourning Friday', 'Great Friday' and so on.
• There is also a common belief that on this day, the church bell is rung 33 times, once for each year of Jesus' life. In addition, the very first Good Friday was also observed in 33 AD.
• On this day, Jesus is thought to have breathed his last at 3 pm. As a result, people fast until 3 pm and only then do ceremonies or other rituals.
• In his music drama "Parsifal," Richard Wagner paid an orchestral tribute known as "Good Friday Music."
• Good Friday 2022 is set to be held on 15th April 2022.