Good Friday Reflections: A Night of Reverence, Sorrow, and Hope

During the Vespers, the congregation processed with the Holy Shroud—a powerful symbol of Christ’s burial. Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, who presided over the liturgy, offered a deeply moving homily, inviting the faithful to meditate on the mystery of salvation revealed in Christ’s wounds.

“In this moving Vespers, which begins the next liturgical day—Holy Saturday—we carry the Holy Shroud and have the tradition to come up and venerate it by kissing the wounds which reflect our sins. Those wounds are so deep that they contain all of our sins.”

He continued:

“The faith of the Church is that the wounded, the pierced, the killed, the tortured Christ, assembling our wounds on this earth, went into the big storage house of sin—Hades—where death itself had its realm. And like Hades cannot hold the source of life, so too our sins cannot resist being absorbed by the wounds, by the will of the Father to save us.”

Metropolitan Borys emphasized the spiritual significance of this sacred night:

“Take an opportunity to stay and pray with gratitude for the saving wounds, for the salvific death, and for the great unimaginable love of our Lord.”

He also encouraged the faithful to venerate the cathedral’s copy of the Shroud of Turin, describing it as “an icon” and inviting deeper reflection on Christ’s suffering and redemptive love.

“If we choose to accept Jesus’s outstretched hand, we will come out clean by the virtue of His love and fellowship, by the fact that in baptism He has made us His brothers and sisters—the children of the Father.”

Following the liturgical services, the cathedral hosted a quiet vigil of singing and reflections, offering space for personal prayer and meditation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was available, and many took the opportunity to experience the healing mercy of God.