This and the following two sections discuss piety and the crucifix. The Good Friday veneration at liturgy isn’t Lenten, of course. But the practice of regarding the image of Jesus on the cross is longstanding, and not only during the Forty Days.
127. The journey of Lent ends with the Easter Triduum, initiated by the celebration of the Coena Domini Mass. During the Triduum, Good Friday which is dedicated to the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, is eminently suited for the “Adoration of the Holy Cross”.
Triduum is where the heart of the observance resides.
Popular piety tends to anticipate the cultic veneration of the Cross. Throughout Lent, every Friday is observed, since very ancient times, as a commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and the faithful easily direct their devotions towards the mystery of the Cross.
And Friday recalls it.
They contemplate the crucified Savior, they sense more easily the great suffering which Jesus, the Holy and Innocent One, suffered for the salvation of (humankind). They understand his love and the effectiveness of his redemptive sacrifice.
And so an execution becomes the means by which people encounter a Great Love. From this we are inspired to love in turn, or so the notion might be …
The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy is online at the Vatican site.
Catholic Sensibility 