Holy and Great Friday Resource Page

On this day, Holy and Great Friday, we celebrate the awesome, holy, and saving Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ - the spitting, the blows with the palm of the hand, the buffeting, the mockery, the reviling, the wearing of the purple robe, the reed, the sponge, the vinegar, the nailing, the lance, and above all, the Crucifixion and Death which He condescended to endure willingly for our sakes - and also the saving confession of the grateful thief upon the cross.

Verses for the Crucifixion

Thou art a living God, even though Thou wast lifeless on the Wood. 

O naked corpse, Thou art the Word of the living God.

Verses for the Penitent Thief

The thief opened the locked gates of Eden,
With the key, "Remember me".

  

Synaxarion for Holy and Great Friday 

 

The Twelve Gospels of the Holy Passion of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ 

 

Holy and Great Friday: Scripture Readings 

 

Holy and Great Friday (Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos) 

 

A Lesson for the Soul on Great Friday: Be Dead (Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios)

 

Holy Cross Resource Page 

 

What the Church Teaches Us On Great Friday 

  

The Hours of Great Friday 

 

Holy Friday in Fourth Century Jerusalem According to Nun Egeria  

 

Homily on the Sufferings and Death of our Lord (Eusebius of Emesa) 

 

The Death of Christ in the Air Cleansed the Atmosphere of Demons (St. Athanasius the Great) 

 

The Baptism of Water and the Baptism of Blood (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)   

 

The Passion of the Savior (St. Ephraim the Syrian) 

 

On the Holy Cross (St. Ephraim the Syrian) 

 

To Whom Was the Blood of Christ Offered? (St. Gregory the Theologian)  

 

First and Second Homily for Holy Friday (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

 

Third Homily for Holy Friday (St. Cyril of Alexandria) 

 

Fourth Homily for Holy Friday (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

 

Fifth Homily for Holy Friday (St. Cyril of Alexandria) 

 

What Does It Mean That Christ Became a Curse For Us on the Cross? (St. Cyril of Alexandria) 

 

What Did the Crucified Christ Mean When He Said "It Is Finished"? (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)   

 

The Death of Christ, A New Pathway to Life (St. Cyril of Alexandria)  

 

Why Did It Become Dark When Christ Was Crucified? (St. Cyril of Alexandria / St. John Chrysostom) 

 

On the Holy Cross (St. John Chrysostom)  

 

Sermon for Great and Holy Friday (St. Theodore the Studite) 

 

Third Great Friday Homily of Saint Photios the Great

 

Christ Speaks To Us From the Cross (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) 

 

The Passion of Christ According to Theophanes the Cretan 

 

Following in the Footsteps of Christ Who Suffered For You (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite)  

 

Great Friday - The Last Kiss?

 

Homily for Great Friday Before the Holy Shroud (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

First Homily for Holy and Great Friday (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Second Homily for Holy and Great Friday (St. Luke of Simferopol)

  

Why The Good Thief Was Pardoned (St. John Maximovitch)  

  

"Like a Lamb Led to the Slaughter" (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

 

The King Who Does Not Defend Himself (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)  

 

The Seven Phrases Christ Spoke on the Cross (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

 

The Horror of Nature at the Death of Christ (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)  

 

The Miraculous Opening of Graves After the Crucifixion (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)  

  

The Prayer of Golgotha (Papa-Tychon the Athonite)  

  

The Mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) 

 

"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)  

 

Great Friday Message From Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos 

 

Jesus on the Cross

 

The Cross of Christ and His "Mad Love" for Humanity 

 

Why Did Christ Suffer Crucifixion? 

 

What Christ Accomplished on the Cross 

 

The Trilogy of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ  

 

Two Powerful Old Testament Images of Christ On the Cross 

 

How the Passion of Christ Reversed the Fall of Adam  

 

King of the Jews or King of Glory? 

 

Did Only One Thief Insult Christ on the Cross?  

 

Relics of the Cross of the Good Thief

 

The Miraculous Healing of St. Porphyrios of Gaza by the Thief on the Cross 

 

The First Chapel Dedicated to the Holy Thief of Golgotha

 

Elder Kyrillos Saw in a Vision the Descent of Christ from the Cross

A Uniquely Cypriot Icon of Saint Paraskevi

 

 

The Pain of the Mother of God (St. Silouan the Athonite) 

 

She Also Was A Mother 

 

The Dirge of the Panagia: A Good Friday Tradition 

 

A Cypriot Lamentation of the Panagia For Great Friday 

 

The Two Evil Deeds of Israel Against Jesus 

 

A 1930 Recording of the Hymn "Today is Hung Upon the Cross" by a Chanter from Smyrna 

 

The Cross as a Balance Scale of Righteousness 

 

The Lord Responds To His Mockers   

 

Athonite Monk Chants a Great Friday Hymn From a Balcony  

 

Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion 

 

The Fraudulent Letter of Pontius Pilate 

 

The Inscription by Pontius Pilate 

 

A Forensic "Autopsy" of Jesus 

 

The Prison of Christ in the Praetorium Monastery 

 

Dried Up Crown of Thorns Blooms Again in Athens! 

 

Greek Customs and Traditions for Good Friday 

 

What Should Be Done With the Flowers of the Epitaphion on Holy Friday? 

 

The Amazing Miracle of Marmaketo: An Annual Paschal Miracle in Crete on the Feast of Saint John the Theologian

 

A Unique Epitaphion in Ouranoupoli  

 

A Dramatic Passion of Christ In Rhodes 

 

Hundreds Venerate "the Undefiled Passion" in Kilkis 

 

Cyprus Welcomes Relics of the Undefiled Passion 

 

The Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme In Rome  

 

After 32 Years, Crucifixion Icon Returns To Monemvasia  

 

The Magnificent Illumination of Santorini for Great Friday (photos + videos) 

 

Great Friday Vespers In Moscow (photos - video) 

 

Holy and Great Friday In Hollywood 

 

First Good Friday Procession Allowed in Smyrna Since 1922 

 

Holy Week Resource Page