According to the Church's ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated on Good Friday nor Holy Saturday. "Celebration of the Lord's Passion," traditionally known as the "Mass of the Presanctified," (although it is not a mass) is usually celebrated around three o'clock in the afternoon, or later, depending on the needs of the parish.
This is a day of mourning. We should try to take time off from work and school to participate in the devotions and liturgy of the day as much as possible. In addition, we should refrain from extraneous conversation. Some families leave the curtains drawn, and maintain silence during the 3 hours (noon — 3p.m.), and keep from loud conversation or activities throughout the remainder of the day. We should also restrict ourselves from any TV, music or computer—these are all types of technology that can distract us from the spirit of the day. 
It is finished. (John 19:30)
What was finished? Jesus’ mission!
If we want to understand that mission we have to go back to the very beginning of the Bible. We have to start in Genesis, with its story of the fall of our first parents. From that point on, the human race was separated from God. Subject to sin and death, all Adam’s descendants would now live under a cloud. But God did not abandon us. He established a personal covenant with Abraham to form a people who would reveal his presence to the rest of the world.
Five hundred years after Abraham, Moses became the mediator of a covenant between God and the Israelites—a covenant written in stone and sealed in blood. Seven hundred years later, prophets began speaking of a new covenant that God would make. This time, the covenant would be written on human hearts and sealed in the blood of a suffering servant. It would be a covenant in which God would give us all a new heart and place his own Spirit within us so that we would find the grace to follow him.
And so today we are celebrating the day when the new covenant was ratified. Today is the day we recall Jesus, the perfect Servant of God, and the way he shed his blood so that we could be transformed. It’s the day when Adam’s sin was wiped away, the day when the Holy Spirit flowed from the pierced side of Christ, and the day when the dividing wall between heaven and earth was torn down.
Isn’t it amazing how patiently and carefully God was unfolding his plan over all those centuries? Isn’t it comforting to know that God never gave up on us—and that even today he is just as committed to us? In your prayer today, spend some time contemplating God’s magnificent plan. Think about God’s faithfulness to his covenant with us. Let it fortify your faith and deepen your love. Then commit yourself to trying your best to live out that covenant—the covenant that Jesus established with his own blood.
“Jesus, you are our great high priest. I come before your throne today with confidence, knowing that I will receive mercy and find grace to help me live in your love. (Hebrews 4:16)”
Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Psalm 31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9