Maundy
Thursday or Holy Thursday,
Observed
by Christians in commemoration of Christ's Last Supper.
The name
Maundy is derived from mandatum (Latin, “commandment”)
the first
word of an anthem sung in the liturgical ceremony on that day.
In Roman
Catholic and many Protestant churches, the Eucharist is celebrated in an
evening liturgy that includes Holy Communion. During the Roman Catholic
liturgy, the ceremony of the washing of the feet, or pedilavium, is performed:
the celebrant washes the feet of 12 people to commemorate Christ's washing
of his disciples' feet. In England a custom survives of giving alms (“maundy
pennies”) to the poor; this recalls an earlier practice in which the sovereign
washed the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday. In most European countries,
the day is known as
Holy
Thursday.
