Good Friday

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Hot Cross Buns, if made on Good Friday, were once believed to have special powers. Some would be baked hard to keep as protection against fire or shipwreck, or used grated into milk to cure diarrhoea or dysentery.

Good Friday, also known as Big Friday in Israel and Great Friday across most of eastern Europe and within the Eastern Orthodox church, is the day after Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday or Great Thursday, and the first day of Easter. It is the Friday before Holy Saturday and Easter Day. It is a movable feast, which means that it occurs on a different date every year, and often coincides with the Jewish festival of Purim.

It is an important commemoration in all churches of the crucifixion of their Christ, Jesus. It is a public holiday in many countries around the world, and a Bank holiday in the UK to enable attendance at the special services which take place on this day and those following. In some countries shops are forbidden to open and in others advertising on radio and television is forbidden.

In the Republic of Ireland it is unlawful to sell alcohol on Good Friday, and almost all pubs, bars and restaurants in the country are closed for the whole day leading to many people crossing the border into Northern Ireland to obtain supplies. In the US, the New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street) closes, as do many schools, but banks and post offices remain open.

The Roman Catholic Church expects followers to fast, which in practice seems to result in eating fish rather than meat (as used to be the case every Friday until 1966), and Eastern Orthodox christians should eat as little as possible.