Friday of Sorrows

Friday of Sorrows Viernes de Dolores
Regarded as the most famous in Spain during Holy Week processions, the Virgin of Hope of Macarena, shown in her sorrowful theme while wearing imperial regalia each Friday before Palm Sunday.
Also called	Council Friday
Observed by	Roman Catholic Church (Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Malta, Luxembourg and the Philippines)
Date	Friday before Palm Sunday
2024 date	March 22
2025 date	April 11
2026 date	March 27
2027 date	March 19
Frequency	Annual

The Friday of Sorrows or Passion Friday^[1] is a solemn pious remembrance of the sorrowful Blessed Virgin Mary on the Friday before Palm Sunday held in the fifth week of Lent (formerly called "Passion Week"). In the Anglican Ordinariate's Divine Worship: The Missal it is called Saint Mary in Passiontide and sometimes it is traditionally known as Our Lady in Passiontide.

In certain Catholic countries, especially Brazil, Guatemala, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and Spain, it is the beginning of Holy Week celebrations and often termed Viernes de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows) or a similar local name. It takes place exactly one week before Good Friday, and focuses on the emotional pain the Passion of Jesus Christ caused his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is venerated under the title Our Lady of Sorrows.

In certain Spanish-speaking countries, the day is also referred to as Council Friday, because of John 11:47–54 as the Gospel of the day in the Tridentine Mass (now read in slightly expanded form the next day, i.e., Saturday of the fifth week of Lent), which recounts the meeting of the Sanhedrin to discuss what to do with Jesus.

Like all Fridays in Lent, this Friday is a day of abstinence from meat, unless the national episcopal conference has indicated alternative forms of penance.^[2]

A similar commemoration in sympathy with the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Solitude is held on Black Saturday.