Good Friday 2025: Why is There No Mass On this Holy Day for Christians?

Christians across the world observe Good Friday tomorrow, 18th April 2025. Churches across the country will be filled with people commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Most churches will enact the sacrifice made by the Lord and offer prayers and meditation at various times during the day.

However, an important thing to note here is that there won't be any mass observed on Good Friday. The Church offers the holy sacrifice of the Mass every day as a means of representing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in an unbloody manner upon the altar, yet on the day on which we call to mind the real sacrifice of Christ as it took place in time, churches observe commemoration without Mass. This practice gives rise to a question: "Wouldn't Good Friday be a more appropriate day than any other for offering Mass?"

The answer to that question is given by St. Thomas Aquinas in his theological masterpiece Summa Theologica (III, q. 83, a. 2, ad. 2), where he addresses questions related to the Eucharist. "The figure ceases with the advent of reality." But this sacrament is a figure and a representation of our Lord’s Passion… Therefore, we do not consecrate this sacrament on the day we recall our Lord's Passion as it truly occurred."

To put it another way, people do not celebrate Mass on Good Friday because it is a day of commemoration. Good Friday commemorates the Lord's actual sacrifice on the Cross. In the Good Friday commemoration, it is understood that the followers of Christianity are mystically present in some way at Calvary alongside the Blessed Mother and the other disciples who remained at the Cross.

However, keep in mind that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is less authentic. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is indeed a representation of the real and true sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross. Yet, the Mass is also a sign of this sacrifice. It is not a mere sign in that it only signifies the sacrifice; it is an efficacious sign. It both signifies Christ’s sacrifice and actually makes it present. And so, in the commemoration on Good Friday, the sign of Christ’s sacrifice offered in the Mass gives way to the historical reality.