Friday, April 3, 2026

0:00It is the 3rd of April, 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I'm Dan VanVoris. A blessed good Friday to you if you are listening today or on any day, a time to reflect on the passion of our Lord is always in season. You might have questions about today, this high holy day, a somber day in many places, and so today's show is going to run through the development of what has always been one of my favorite days to go to church. A quick note on the word good. Yes, it is ironic and also deeply true. It is the Yucatastrophe or Good Catastrophe, as we will discuss on the weekend show. But it likely comes from an older sense of the word good in middle English.

1:03Good meaning holy. We have an attestation as far back as 1290 for that. I've read that it comes from God's Friday, but that seems to be a later invention. Other medieval English rubrics call today long Friday as in the long fast the whole day. And in Scandinavia today, you will still hear it referred to as some form of a long Friday. In Germany, today is car friteg or sorrowful Friday. Other languages usually have some variation on great or high, signifying this important date in salvation history. The recognition of the Passion of Jesus on this Friday is one of the oldest celebrations in church history. Along with Mondi Thursday and Holy Saturday, he's used to be celebrated in one service or series of services they weren't distinct until the 4th century. The good Friday contemplation of the cross comes in particular from the time of Saint Helena,

2:07the mother of Constantine, who journeyed to the Holy Land and is said to have found the true cross. We have a record of a special service from the Spanish Christian Pilgrim Woman Atheria, who made her way to the Holy Land around 380 and there in her account rights of a service that included the Via Dolorosa, similar to the modern stations of the cross. The stations of the cross became especially popular in the Middle Ages. It's a liturgy following 14 stations, usually images or plaques representing Jesus's path from condemnation to being laid in the tomb. The original stations of the cross that took place in Jerusalem became increasingly hard for pilgrims to complete, and so services that replicated this would spread across Europe. The Tenebrae service or service of darkness that is sometimes merged with Mondi Thursday service, which also plays with the theme of darkness, is sometimes celebrated today with

3:10the series of candles being lit and then blown out with successive readings, sometimes Psalms of lamentation or sometimes the last words of Jesus. Like with Mondi Thursday, the churches of the Reformation were ambivalent about good Friday services, largely treating it as something audioffra or indifferent. The second Hellvitic confession, a reformed confession of faith, took a surprisingly positive approach. Quote, if in Christian liberty, the churches religiously celebrate the memory of our Lord's nativity, circumcision, passion, resurrection, we approve of it highly. While the observation of the hours of 12 to 3 in the afternoon had long been celebrated by monks in their customary prayers, the tradition of a specific three-hour service, very popular in some Catholic and Lutheran churches, is not as ancient as you might think. This three-hour service in English, as you might know it, with the last words of Jesus

4:13spoken, only dates to 1806. Called the devotion of the three hours of the agony of Jesus Christ or Redeemer, it was composed in Lima, Peru by Father Alfonso Messia in 1725, approved by the Pope in 1789, translated into English in 1806, and has since made its way into various Anglican and Lutheran communities. Tomorrow, of course, is Holy Saturday, a day of silence and reflection as the church goes dark. We will be here, however, with a special mailbag of questions about this season. The last word for today comes from the daily electionary, and amongst the various readings for today, we have a selection from Hebrews 4 and 5. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we

5:18have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was hurt because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation, for all who obey him. This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 3rd of April, 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. This show is produced by a man who is surely okay without a pun or joke today, he is Christ for Gillespie. The show is written and read by a man hoping you have a moment today to reflect perhaps.

6:21And the greatest good of all the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I'm Dan, fan for us. You can catch us here every day, and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true. Everything is going to be okay.