Friday

Venus in the bathroomJohn William Godward oil, 1901.

Friday is the fifth day of the week according to the Gregorian calendar (Monday being the first), and sixth for cultures that consider Sunday the first day of the week. The name "Friday" comes from the Latin Veneris dies; 'Venus day', honoring the goddess of beauty and love in Roman mythology. It is located between Thursday and Saturday.

In most Western countries, Friday is the fifth and last day of the work week. In other countries, Friday is the first day of the weekend and Saturday the second. In Israel, Friday is the sixth day of the week. In Iran, Friday is the last day of the weekend, with Saturday being the first day of the working week. Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait also followed this convention until they switched to the Friday-Saturday weekend on September 1, 2006, in Bahrain and the UAE, and a year later in Kuwait. The UAE changed its weekend from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday on January 1, 2022.

Etymology

These are some of the names that Friday receives in different languages:

Folklore

Friday is considered unlucky in some cultures. This is particularly so in maritime circles; perhaps the most enduring superstition of sailing is that it is bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday. In the 19th century, Admiral William Henry Smyth described Friday in his nautical lexicon The Sailor's Word-Book like

The Dies InfaustusIn which the old sailors were willing not to be heavy, because they were of evil squire.

(Dies Infaustus means "unlucky day".) This superstition is the root of the well-known urban legend of HMS Friday.

In modern times, Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky, due to Friday's conjunction with the unlucky number thirteen. This type of Friday can be referred to as 'Black Friday'.

However, this superstition is not universal, especially in Scottish Gaelic culture:

Although Friday has always been considered a day of bad luck in many Christian countries, still in the Hybrids it is supposed to be a lucky day to sow the seed. Good Friday, in particular, is one of the best days for potato sowing; even strict Roman Catholics plant a cube that day. Probably the idea is that, like the Resurrection followed the Crucifixion and burial, also in the case of the seed, and after death life will come...

In the liturgy

Friday is a special day for various religions.

• Friday is the Sabbath preparation day for the Jews, a feast that begins the night before the Sabbath.
• Christians dedicate this day to penance and prayer, in memory of the Passion of Jesus Christ. Fasting was formerly of rigor throughout the East, except in the Church of Constantinople, and part of the West. In many of the provinces of the Eastern Empire there was no prayer on that day; and although the Roman Church never intended to make it a feast, there were few on Fridays throughout the year that did not have their office, that is, the Mass or at least their gospel.

Today, the Church does not require penance, but Tradition requires that Catholics do at least abstinence and prayer - that is, not eat meat and pray at least once (usually at 3:00 p.m.) - at this day. Good Friday is the day of Holy Week in which the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus is commemorated. The Greeks and Latins had this day off in many places, albeit freely and out of devotion. In the middle of the 16th century it was reduced to a half-day holiday, which ended at noon, after the religious service. However, it remains a public holiday in Alsace-et-Moselle by virtue of an ordinance of August 16, 1892.

• It's said Friday is al-jumu'a or jum'a in Arabic, term also denotes the week, and it is likely that the Muslim Friday will have a connection with Venus and Jupiter in an effort to be faithful to the pre-Islamic traditions: Venus is represented in the Kaaba by the Black Stone and was especially under the Jupiter sign that the law of Islam. The substantive jumu'a means "day of meeting" or "assembly." It is the sacred day of Islam, that of collective prayer. To distinguish themselves from the other two abrahmic monotheisms, the Muslims opt for Friday as a sacred day. Another explanation, more theological, is that the sacred Muslim day corresponds to the day when man and woman (Adam and Eve) appear in the account of Genesis, being the sixth day on Sunday, and the Sabbath, the seventh. Some Muslims also practice weekly rest on Friday, which is not a Koranic prescription.
• Friday is the name of a saint from the southeast of Europe associated with the name Template:Page h': Santa Paraskeva-Vendredi. In Veliki Nóvgorod, in Russia, there is a church dedicated to it: the Church of Santa Paraskeva-Vendredi-en-el-Mercado.

Other data

• According to an ancient custom of the Catholic Church, this day is dedicated to venerating the Passion of Jesus Christ.
• It is currently taken on Friday as the beginning of the weekend, so it is used as a celebration day, especially after sunset.