Holy Friday is a profoundly mournful day in Greece which commemorates the Passion of Christ with the traditional Epitaphios processions.
A nationwide affair, it recalls the moments leading up to and including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as told in the New Testament of the Bible.
Even the most remote churches honor the tradition of the Epitaphios (Bier of Christ), creating a pious atmosphere full of tradition.
The word epitaphios is an adjective meaning “funerary, happening on a grave”; it is the Greek title for Thucydides’ famous “Pericles’ Funeral Oration”, and the origin of the word epitaph.
Within a liturgical context, this is also the name of an icon, usually made of cloth and richly embroidered, depicting the body of Christ being laid in the grave, often by the Virgin Mary and some disciples.
On Good Friday morning, the Epitaphios is decorated with spring flowers — mostly white, red, and purple — until it is entirely covered.
The Tomb is often sprinkled with flower petals and rosewater, decorated with candles and ceremonially censed as a mark of respect.
Then the priest and faithful venerate the Epitaphios as the choir chants hymns, called the “Epitaphic Lamentation.”
Epitaphios processions on Holy Friday march into the sea
The epitaph procession begins around the streets of the city, with bells ringing the funeral toll, commemorating the burial procession of Christ. Accompanying the solemn procession are the people of the congregation, who continually chant the Lamentations.
At the end of the procession, the Epitaphios is brought back to the church. Sometimes, after the clergy carry the Epitaphios in, they will stop just inside the entrance to the church, and hold the Epitaphios above the door, so that all who enter the church will pass under it.
The faithful continue to visit the tomb and venerate the Epitaphios throughout Great Saturday.
These practices have numerous variations according to regional traditions.
Perhaps the most impressive case is that of some coastal towns, most notably on the islands of Hydra and Tinos, where the men carrying the Epitaphios reach the beach and march right into the sea, until they are at least waist-deep in water, where they may remain for several minutes, often holding the platform high to protect it.
During this time, prayers are said for the welfare and safe return of the many seafarers coming from those communities.
