Today’s word of the day is part of our Italian Easter Word series. Each day during the week leading up to Easter, we’ll post a word that is related to this special time of year. Enjoy! 🐰
Good Friday (known as Venerdì Santo in Italian) falls on the Friday before Easter. The Italian translation means Holy Friday.
On this day, Christians all over the world commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ (Gesù Cristo). In most practising countries including Italy, it is a day of fasting and penance for the faithful.
Il Venerdì Santo è il venerdì che precede la Pasqua cristiana.
Good Friday is the Friday that precedes the Christian Easter.
Because it is directly connected with Easter, the date on which Venerdì Santo falls changes each year. For example, this year it will take place on April 7th whereas last year, it was on April 19th.
Despite not being a national public holiday in Italy, many rituals take place on Good Friday, one of the most important being the 5 p.m. liturgy with the Pope at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Afterwards, the traditional Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) takes place, during which the Pope leads a candlelit procession along a path of 14 stations starting from the Colosseum. At each station, a brief prayer is offered to commemorate the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
