Desolation and confusion are perfect descriptions  for the feelings of those who comes into All Saints’ Church on Good Friday.  That which is familiar, tangible and comforting, is gone – no statues, no crosses or crucifixes, no ornaments, candles or altar frontals.  No focus for devotion is to be seen and the building looks bare.  The Blessed Sacrament, ‘tabernacled’  within the enclosure of the mediaeval Anchorhold, is hidden away.

The Stations of the Cross, sometimes so easily overlooked, advance across the walls of the North and South Aisles and remain as some huge demonstrative reminder as to the significance of the day – the suffering and death of the Lord.

The most important liturgical gesture of the day, begins the afternoon’s devotion.  The clergy, vested in red, together with the Servers, process in silence from the Sacristy through the church and then pause momentarily at the head of the nave where they prostrate themselves, whilst the entire congregation kneels in silent remembrance.

The Liturgy is divided into three parts, beginning with the Readings and the Gospel of the Day.  After the readings are concluded, during the singing of a hymn, one of the Priests, accompanied by two Servers moves to the back of the Church to collect the great crucifix which is used for the second part of the liturgy – the Veneration of the Cross.  For many, this is a difficult devotion, which focuses attention upon the nature of Christ’s death.  The Crucifix, covered with a purple cloth,  is processed through the church, stopping twice to reveal part of the cross, and then arriving in the Sanctuary when the third and final proclamation results in the complete exposure of the entire crucifix.  The people are invited to venerate, either approaching the crucifix, genuflecting or bowing and kissing it, or merely venerating it from where they are.

The concluding part of the liturgy is the distribution of Holy Communion.  Once the Communion is over, the Priests  consume the remaining Hosts, indicating the death of Jesus – His Incarnational presence in the Church is gone.  The Service concludes with a form of Blessing and the Clergy and Altar party, and congregation, leave in silence.   The Church doors are closed and locked as a sign of mourning.