As early March creeped toward the first days of spring, the Lent season will also come to a close on Good Friday 2024 just before Easter.

Always the final Friday before Easter Sunday, Good Friday marks the death of Jesus Christ ahead of the resurrection celebrated on Easter by Christians worldwide. Good Friday, although always on a Friday, is celebrated on a different calendar date each year.

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, March 31. Determined every year by what is known as the Paschal full moon, or the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, alternatively, Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate the Holy day on Sunday, May 5.

Crucifixion was a brutal forms of capital punishment devised, so although it was performed by Romans in biblical times as a form of punishment, Good Friday is called ‘good’ because the death of Jesus is seen as the ultimate sacrifice made by God for the forgiveness of all human sin, according to the Christian religion. Good Friday marks the day of Jesus' crucifixion and the end of the Lent season, which is acknowledged in the Christian faith as the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert leading up to his death.

Marking Good Friday today, many people, typically, will not eat meat, except for fish on each Friday during the season of Lent!

The lead-in to Easter began over a month before and includes several significant Holy and cultural holidays as part of the biblical crucifixion story. Fat Tuesday kicked things off informally on February 13 this year as a final day of indulgence before the 40-day period of Lent that includes fasting for those of the Catholic faith and certain other Christian denominations.

The significant Holy days in the Easter and Lent season include:

  • Palm Sunday: commemorating when Jesus entered Jerusalem
  • Ash Wednesday: day of repentance marking the beginning of Lent
  • Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday: commemorating the Last Supper and washing of feet
  • Good Friday: commemorating Jesus' crucifixion and death
  • Easter Sunday: commemorating the resurrection of Jesus