Good Friday (the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday)
Believers are reminded of the drama of Christ's death with great devoutness. They tend to take off the icon of Jesus from the cross, wrapped in linen, and place it in the Epitaph, symbolizing his tomb. Followed by a procession of the faithful, the mini-monument is carried across every Greek town, village, or neighborhood late at night. To express people's sorrow, on some occasions, a band or a choir follows the procession and plays along or even sings solemn music. Altar boys carry the liturgical fans and the Epitaph is followed by cantors, clergy members and women bear myrrh. There are people throughout the procession that scatter flowers and perfume on the tomb while they hold lit candles in their hands.
In the city of Athens, women used to clean the streets just before the Epitaph. As soon as the procession arrived they would stand at their doors holding a roof tile containing a small piece of charcoal and incense. All around Greece, many people sip vinegar on Good Friday. In Crete, locals boil snails and drink their very bitter juice. In a place called Koroni in Peloponnese, people do not drink anything during the whole day. In many Greek villages, many men don't do any kind of manual activity – especially using their nails – because it resembles the way that Jesus died.
On the island of Naxos, people don't kiss because of the kiss that betrayed Jesus by Judas. All women gather around to clean the churches and to decorate the Epitaph before the following of the procession. On Syros island, Easter is celebrated with great amity. The Orthodox and the Catholic religious communities, commemorate the death of Jesus Christ together. On the Cyclades islands, Christians and Catholics tend to celebrate together. It is perhaps the only region of the world that this happens. 2 religious worlds meet at the island's main square to celebrate Good Friday with great devoutness and mutual respect.
