Holy Friday

Date: the Friday before Pascha

Fasting and Bread

In the strict fasting rule typically only followed by monks, one does not eat from the Thursday night passion gospels until breaking the fast at the Paschal Liturgy. Pious lay customs may call for xerophagy (eating only raw food), or eating just bread and dried fruits. Thus, hot cross buns are traditionally a strict fasting food eaten on Holy Friday. You can make them with or without fruit, and in flavour they resemble the spiced buns used in an artoklasia.

It is believed that if you include some dough in the buns which was kneaded for the Holy Thursday (Institution of the Eucharist) prosphora, it won't spoil or grow mouldy in the following year, and a piece of it will help someone recover from illness.

Liturgy 

Wear black or dark colours to church.