The principal celebration of Good Friday is the commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Death. On this day, the Church invites Christ’s faithful to a moment of deep penance marked by fasting and abstinence from meat. The liturgy, which re-enacts the shedding of Christ’s blood on the Cross for the redemption of humanity is basically divided into two sections: the Stations of the Cross, and the celebration of the Lord’s Passion. It is important to state that no Mass is celebrated on this day.

The celebration which was presided over by Rev. Fr. Victor Olaseeni began with the procession for the Stations of the Cross at 12:00noon. The procession began from the seminary’s chapel and led through various sections of the compound, stopping at intervals where each station had hitherto been prepared by the Liturgical department of the seminary. The process led back to the Chapel where it was all concluded. At three O’clock, all gathered, once again, in the seminary chapel for the celebration the Lord’s Passion. The celebration began with the silent procession of the ministers to the sanctuary, where they prostrated for a while. This was followed by the opening prayer (without the invitation, “Let us pray”), the Liturgy of the Word, the proclamation of the Passion Narrative, a brief homily, the Solemn intercessions, the unfolding of the Cross (when the deacon chants the Ecce Lignum), the veneration of the Cross, offertory collection and covering of the altar. The solemn moment of consecration was not included in the celebration of Good Friday. However, at the appropriate time, the ciboria containing the consecrated species were brought to the altar. This was followed by the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, the reception of the Holy Communion and the return of the Blessed Sacrament to the Tabernacle in the Sacristy. The celebration was dismissed with a blessing and all departed in silence, genuflecting to the Cross. (the altar was stripped after the celebration, but the Cross remained in the sanctuary with two lighted candles placed beside it). Afterwards, silence prevailed in the entire Church.