Is Good Friday before or after Easter?

Good Friday is before Easter, occurring on the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and falls during Holy Week, the final week of the Christian season of Lent.

The day is part of the Paschal Triduum, the three-day period that also includes Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Many Christian traditions observe Good Friday with prayer, fasting, Scripture readings, solemn services, and the Stations of the Cross. The name refers to the older religious sense of “good,” meaning holy or pious, rather than a celebration of something pleasant.

The date changes each year because Easter is a movable feast. Western churches calculate it using the Gregorian calendar, while many Eastern churches use the Julian calendar, so Good Friday and Easter may occur on different dates in the two traditions. A common mix-up is Easter Friday, which is the Friday after Easter and is distinct from Good Friday.