'On the cross, death is crucified...'

Dear Parish Faithful,

GREAT AND HOLY FRIDAY - A reflection

"Holy Friday is the day of the Cross, yet without meaning that it is a day of mourning. Mankind crucifies the God-man. It is evil and hatred in its most absolute form: the creation kills its Creator. And it seems that evil has triumphed.

"It seems so but evil does not triumph because Christ responds with love. He does not offer opposition which would multiply and scatter the hatred, but submits to condemnation from love for the judges. He inoculates the appearance of evil with the vaccine of love and the cross, from being a symbol of humiliating death, becomes a symbol of life and salvation. For on the cross, death is crucified.

If the action of hatred is death, then the action of love is life. In loving mankind, Christ accepts the action of hatred and submits to the condemnation of death. This death, however, takes place on account of love, and thus, from this death, flows life. This death is the death of hatred; it is the death of death. And the cross is the symbol of life and the symbol of triumph. For this reason, Holy Friday is not a day of mourning but a day of celebration."

- From the Passion to the Resurrection - An Anthology of Hymns, Literature and Icons of Holy week