Today, Christians celebrate Good Friday - the saddest holiday

In the afternoon, in all Orthodox churches, the Shroud is brought out, which symbolizes the cloth in which Jesus was wrapped after being taken down from the cross, and on which Christ's entombment is shown. Good Friday is the saddest day for Christians when they remember the events that preceded Christ's crucifixion. It is a day of great mourning, but also an introduction and preparation for Easter, which is the greatest Christian holiday.

On that day, Orthodox believers strictly fast, spending the day only on dry bread and water, and many also are on "one-day fast", that is, they do not eat or drink anything all day, but only take a little bread and water in the evening after the evening service.

Good Friday is the day when the Romans condemned Jesus Christ to death, at the instigation of the Jewish priests and Pharisees. As a sign of sadness and mourning, church bells are not rung on Good Friday starting from the Vigil on Holy Thursday, and calls to services are made with wooden clappers. There is no liturgy on Good Friday, but the "Imperial Hours" are read in the morning.

In the morning, the imperial hours remind us of the bringing of Christ to the court before Pontius Pilate, the time of condemnation, the time of the sufferings of the cross and the crucifixion on the Golgotha ​​hill, and then the removal of the body of Christ from the cross in the evening service where the Shroud is brought out.

The shroud is placed on a specially decorated table in front of the altar, which represents Christ's tomb. After the evening service, matins of Great Saturday are served with the Statia (a dirge to Jesus Christ), after which the liturgy with the Shroud goes around the temple. Statios are poems that describe the mourning and suffering of the Blessed Virgin Mary due to the crucifixion and death of her son Jesus Christ, but also the sufferings that announce his glorious resurrection.

Because of the importance of this holiday, every Sunday during the year is dedicated to Easter and every Sunday is a small Easter.

Easter is one of the moving holidays and is celebrated after the Jewish Passover, on the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on the day of the vernal equinox or immediately after it. Never before that equinox.

It can fall on April 4 at the earliest, and May 8 at the latest according to the new calendar. In most parts of Serbia, eggs are painted on Good Friday.

Dyeing eggs for Easter is one of the oldest Christian customs and symbolizes the day when Mary Magdalene came to Rome to preach the gospel. She also reached Emperor Tiberius, to whom she brought a basket of eggs as a gift. The emperor did not believe in Christ's resurrection and said that it would be like the white eggs in a basket changing color. Mary Magdalene said: "Christ is risen" and all the eggs in the basket turned red.

The color red is a symbol of joy and resurrection, and the first red egg is kept until the next Easter as a "guardian", the protector of the family. According to another legend, the inhabitants of Jerusalem mocked the Christians that Christ was not resurrected, because it is impossible, just as it is impossible for hens to lay red eggs. The following year, on Easter Day, all the hens in Jerusalem laid red eggs.