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The Liturgy of Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday receives its name from the 'mandatum' (Latin for commandment) given by our Lord: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you." (John 13:34)

At the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples' feet and commanded them to love and serve one another as he had done. This day commemorates the Lord's example of servant ministry, the institution of the Eucharist, the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal leading to the crucifixion.

In the Holy Eucharist we celebrate the love that Jesus lived and taught as we see the elements of bread and wine taken, blessed, broken, and given, just as Christ's body was broken and his blood poured out for us on the cross.

After Eucharist the altar is stripped as we remember how our Lord was stripped and abandoned on the night of his betrayal, and in anticipation of the desolation of Good Friday.

Our Liturgy ends with the Watch when those who desire to do so are invited to respond to Jesus' invitation to "watch and pray" with him by remaining for a period of prayer and meditation before the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood.

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