Good Friday

The altar of repose is a temporary altar where the Communion hosts consecrated on Maundy Thursday during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper are placed, or “reserved”, for use on the following day, Good Friday.

Good Friday is the day we commemorate Christ’s Death, followed by the Eater Vigil on Saturday and the commemoration of Christ’s death on Easter Sunday.

Communion hosts thus cannot be consecrated, and any hosts used on Good Friday or for viaticum for the dying must have been consecrated beforehand. The Altar and meditation area represents the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night He was arrested. After stripping the main Altar, the Sacrament is transferred by a procession to the Altar of Repose. This procession typically occurs during the reading of Psalm 22.

This tradition can be found in Roman Catholic, Catholic, Anglican (especially Anglo-Catholic), and some Lutheran churches. The decoration of the Altar of repose should be unique: at least several candles or lamps, and preferably more, should burn around it and should be tastefully arranged with flowers, drapes, refined cloths, carpets, and use of subdued electric lighting to create the necessary ambiance of silence and meditation. Spending some quiet time at the Altar in mediation and prayer is traditional. Finally, it is processed back into the church’s main Altar on Good Friday for the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified, where it is all consumed.

A fisherman lowers a net into calm water at sunrise on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus stands beside him, symbolizing faith and trust after a night of empty nets.

Nevertheless at Thy Word: Faith in the Midst of Empty Nets

by Fr. Dan Farley | Jul 5, 2026 | Trinity

Sermon Excerpt — Trinity 5
Luke 5:1–11
Have you ever worked hard at something, only to come up empty? Simon Peter knew that feeling well. After a long night of fishing, he and his companions had caught nothing. Exhausted and discouraged, they returned to shore and began washing their nets—resigned to failure.

It was in that very moment that Jesus stepped in and said, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets.”

By all human reasoning, this made no sense. The night was over. The opportunity had passed. Yet Peter responds with remarkable faith:“Nevertheless at thy word, I will let down the net.”

Those four words change everything.

Peter obeys—and the result is abundance beyond imagination. The nets overflow. The boats nearly sink. What began in exhaustion ends in overwhelming blessing.

This passage reminds us that faith often looks like simple obedience in difficult moments. Not when we feel strong or confident, but when we are tired, uncertain, and ready to give up. Christ does not wait for us to be perfect or prepared—He meets us in our weakness and calls us to trust Him.

Whatever “empty nets” you are carrying today, bring them to Christ. And then, like Peter, say: “Nevertheless at thy word.” Cast the net once more—and trust that He is faithful.