Friday of Sorrows

The Friday of Sorrows or Passion Friday is a solemn pious memorial of the dolorous Blessed Virgin Mary on the Friday before Palm Sunday held in the fifth week of Lent (formerly called "Passion Week"). It takes place exactly one week before Good Friday, and focuses on the shared emotional pain and Passion of Jesus Christ that was supernaturally endured by his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is venerated under the title Our Lady of Sorrows.

In certain Catholic countries, especially Brazil, Guatemala, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and Spain, it is the official beginning of Holy Week celebrations and often termed Viernes de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows) or a similar local name.

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 priests to discuss the arrest and punishment of 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. A similar commemoration in sympathy with the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Solitude is held on Black Saturday.

Among Catholic converts belonging to the Anglican Ordinariate, it is called Saint Mary in Passiontide and sometimes it is traditionally known as Our Lady in Passiontide.