This is dedicated to those of you who had never heard that Holy Thursday was called Maundy Thursday (yes you Ms Tina)!
Sometimes I tend to forget that others don't know all the names of the Holy Days in the Christian Church like I do. Guess it was that going to church once a day and twice on Holy Days thing plus the fact that out of 15 years of education, only 4 were not spent in a Catholic School. Plus in my opinion, Lent and all the days of Holy Week have always been really special to me and loaded with symbolism straight from the Bible.
Maundy Thursday commemorates Christ's Last Supper and the initiation of the Eucharist. The name 'Maundy' comes from the Latin word mandatum (meaning command). This is from Christ's words in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you." It is the first of the three days known as the "Triduum," (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday).
Services for Maundy Thursday begin in the morning when the local Bishop will offer a special Chrism Mass during which he blesses the oils used in Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Unction, and the consecration of Altars and churches.
At the evening Mass, after the bells ring during the Gloria, they are not rung again until the Easter Vigil. Then comes the Washing of the Feet after the homily, a rite performed by Christ upon His disciples to prepare them for the priesthood and the marriage banquet they will offer, and which is rooted in the Old Testament practice of foot-washing in preparation for the marital embrace (II Kings 11:8-11, Canticles 5:3) and in the ritual ablutions performed by the High Priest of the Old Covenant (contrast Leviticus 16:23-24 with John 13:3-5). The priest girds himself with a cloth and washes the feet of 12 men he's chosen to represent the Apostles for the ceremony (although I have attended many services where anyone who wants their feet washed is allowed to come to the altar).
The rest of the Mass after the Washing of the Feet has a special form, unlike all other Masses. After the Mass, the priest takes off his chasuble and vests in a white cope. He returns to the Altar, incenses the Sacred Hosts in the ciborium, and, preceded by the Crucifer and torchbearers, carries the Ciborium to the "Altar of Repose," also called the "Holy Sepulchre," where it will remain "entombed" until the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday.
Then there follows the Stripping of the Altars, during which everything is removed as Antiphons and Psalms are recited. All the glorious symbols of Christ's Presence are removed to give us the sense of His entering most fully into His Passion. Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemani; His arrest is imminent. Fortescue's "Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described" tells us: "From now till Saturday no lamps in the church are lit. No bells are rung. Holy Water should be removed from all stoups and thrown into the sacrarium. A small quantity is kept for blessing the fire on Holy Saturday or for a sick call." After the Vigil at night, and until the Vigil of Easter, a more profoundly somber attitude prevails (most especially during the hours between Noon and 3:00 PM on Good Friday). The joyful signs of His Presence won't return until Easter begins with the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening.
