Good Friday

BEACON PHOTO | JOE GIGLI

PASSION OF CHRIST  Bishop Serratelli, Father Ruben Dario Castillo, pastor; Father Kevin Corcoran, priest-secretary to the Bishop; and Deacon Hector Castellanos prostrate themselves before the altar and the crucifix as parishioners kneel at the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, April 14, in Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Passaic.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

PASSAIC  Bishop Serratelli presided at the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, April 14, in Our Lady of Fatima Parish here. The solemn service begins with the Liturgy of the Word, including the account of the Passion and death of Jesus from the Gospel. The second part is the Veneration of the Cross, an ancient practice that allows each person to touch or kiss the Cross, the instrument of torture that leads to salvation. In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment of wood believed to be the Lord’s cross had been venerated every year on Good Friday since the 4th century. According to tradition, a part of the Holy Cross was discovered by the mother of the emperor Constantine, St. Helen, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326. In kneeling before the crucifix and kissing it Catholics are paying the highest honor to the Lord’s Cross as the instrument of salvation The third part is a Communion service with the reception of the hosts that were consecrated at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening.