Maundy Thursday is the beginning of what is called “the Three Days” (or Triduum, Latin for “three days”) and includes Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter.
“Maundy” comes from the word mandatum, which means “commandment.” One of the prayers for today reminds us that “on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us.”
At the worship service, some congregations follow Jesus’ example and wash each other’s feet. We’ll remember the Last Supper – the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion. In some places, the worship service ends with the stripping of the altar, the candles extinguished and worshipers leaving in silence – a reminder of the solemnity of this night.
In a congregation where I once belonged, we did an all-night vigil after the Maundy Thursday service and we took shifts of two or three hours, symbolically waiting with Jesus on the night before his death. It was the stillest I would be all year and I considered it to be one of the great gifts of the liturgical calendar.
This message is excerpted from “The three days” by Kate Elliott from the March 29, 2023, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is Maundy Thursday.
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