Veliki Petak - my past and present

Today is Great Friday, or Good Friday, or Veliki Petak. Today is the day our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, the same cross we, Christians symbolize. Through that cross we make big sacrifices and never waver, from the beginning and ends of our temporal but important lives.

I experienced numerous Great Fridays, especially when I was a Roman Catholic, if there's something me and my family do as a unit during those days, and now as an Orthodox Christian with my wife, here are some:

With my family members, there's a mass in Good Friday, and there's this thing that among my people that stop taking a bath around 3pm, fish is still allowed to be consumed, and we watch various Christian shows on tv. Dad once went in the province alone for the usual Good Friday procession, and brought home a rice cake wrapped in banana leaves.

My first Orthodox Good Friday, I tried what the folks in monasteries did, to the detriment of my body and that day, I don't have work. The next two Great Fridays I had work, so I ate breakfast and lunch but made sure to avoid fish, meat and dairy products(except this year for coffee for work purposes) and every night from work, I cook the Easter food as well, made from lamb/mutton with vegetables. With my wife this year, she will bring as well her own Easter food, prepared two days prior.

Of course, when there's darkness, there's light. When sacrifice is made, blessings will arrive. Everyone will realize it when they step inside the church, both help through the Easter preparations, as well as the Vespers and Matins of Veliki Petak.

Work on a Veliki Petak

Here in Japan, I am just a factory worker and most Japanese people never know what happened in Good Friday. Good Friday or Veliki Petak, is the fulfillment of God's promise to save us from our sins by dying on the cross, conquering Hades and rising up on the third day.

However, every holy week(with the exception of 2016 Lent, Holy Week and Uskrs,) I can't go to church except for Holy Saturday Liturgy and Uskrs Liturgija. But since Good Friday precedes Holy Saturday, I can fast a bit despite having a work by avoiding meat, fish and dairy products; and make sure I remember the sacrifices of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he loves us despite our grave sins to each other.

Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross (three times).
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We venerate Thy Passion, O Christ (three times).
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.

This year's Veliki Petak

Sadly, because of work, I can't fast properly this Veliki Petak. Last year, Veliki Petak, Veliki Subota and Uskrs fell exactly near Japanese Golden week. This year, otherwise.

On this day we commemorate the sufferings of Christ: the mockery, the crown of thorns, the scourging, the nails, the thirst, the vinegar and gall, the cry of desolation, and all the Savior endured on the Cross.


The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature.

In Christ, who is the New Adam, there is no sin. And, therefore, there is no death. He accepted death because He assumed the whole tragedy of our life. He chose to pour His life into death, in order to destroy it; and in order to break the hold of evil. His death is the final and ultimate revelation of His perfect obedience and love. He suffered for us the excruciating pain of absolute solitude and alienation - "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me!" (Mark 15:34). Then, He accepted the ultimate horror of death with the agonizing cry, "It is finished" (John 19:30). His cry was at one and the same time an indication that He was in control of His death and that His work of redemption was accomplished, finished, fulfilled. How strange! While our death is radical unfulfillment, His is total fulfillment.

The day of Christ's death has become our true birthday. "Within the mystery of Christ dead and resurrected, death acquires positive value. Even if physical, biological death still appears to reign, it is no longer the final stage in a long destructive process. It has become the indispensable doorway, as well as the sure sign of our ultimate Pascha, our passage from death to life, rather than from life to death.

If we can't fast because of work, it's fine. God understands how we work hard, as long as we never forget how Christ's death destroyed sin and Hades. It's also we remember with God, nothing is impossible. God is merciful and let's not abuse the free will we were given.

Have a blessed Veliki Petak.

My first Veliki Petak with Pravoslavna Crkva

Later, I will go to the church for the Veliki Petak service in the Orthodox Church. It will be my first as well, so it will be new to me this day. I am fasting(thankfully) from meat and rice since I don't have work until May 8. I will eat any meat again by Sunday morning during the Easter dinner.

So, getting to my article.

Every Veliki Petak, I recount all the sins I have committed and how I can become a much better person. This is the day the Lord died for our sins. How do we think when we commit sins? Of course, I do sins but makes sure to limit it because I want to change, knowing the error of my ways.

It's our conscience that makes us go to confession and our free will. How many times we sin is nothing, when God sees our hearts and we, humans makes sure we will not sin more often.

While writing this article, I kinda think of those around me and how I want to give them my effort and become the reminder that God is with us no matter how hard life is and all the temptations we face. That's why Jesus became man and saved us from our sins.

 That's the essence of Good Friday. Remembering the Death of our Lord and God Jesus Christ.

The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature. - See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_friday/learn/#sthash.SpbTFFKT.dpuf

The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature. - See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_friday/learn/#sthash.SpbTFFKT.dpuf

The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature. - See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_friday/learn/#sthash.SpbTFFKT.dpuf

The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature. - See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_friday/learn/#sthash.SpbTFFKT.dpuf

Good Friday and my roadblocks

I may discuss things here, there. But nothing really changes in my style. Freeflowing, short but with the best meaning available.

When people say Good Friday, one thing comes into my mind. The death of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, It's true. I am still observing Good Fridays. But with heavy work and constant hunger, i just need to eat little rice and to think of my weight as well. And I would watch Orthodox Christian chants in Youtube or have a day-off from political or personal life.

Back in my childhood, I would not eat any poultry meat, not take a bath after 3pm(Philippine version of Catholicism), go to church and watch a movie about Jesus on the television.

Nowadays, I would listen to Good Friday chants of the Orthodox church(Serbian, Greek, Syriac, Arabic) and of course, my daily nightly prayers to commemorate this important date in the Christian liturgical calendar.

Having roadblocks in my life is pretty hard though since I tend to crumble emotionally when i feel depressed. And sometimes, I just want to say to God to take me now because as if my life is nothing without my ex-girlfriend or if my parents would not let me do the things I wished to as long as I don't harm anyone. Let me say this, my intentions are so clean that people would just take advantage of me no matter how hard I want to be pure.

But despite my continuing sorrow, maybe God still wants me to live and find a way to make myself independent and find what is truly for me. We are alive for a lot of reasons but all I can think is that Christ sacrificed himself by dying on the cross for our sins and to save our souls from going into the depths of Satan.

It's true, I am clueless in my life now but, all I want is to live and ask God for forgiveness and thanked him that I still have a mission to make here on earth.