Maundy Thursday

The Easter Triduum

The Triduum means 'three days', each from sunset to sunset. Each day tells a different part of the story of Jesus' saving action. The Church celebrates one liturgy each day with all three forming a single extended liturgy. There is no dismissal and blessing at the endof the Maundy Thursday mass and no formal beginning and end to the Good Friday liturgy. The three day liturgy concludes with the solemn blessing at the end of the Easter Vigil or at the morning mass on Easter Sunday. It is good to attend all three parts with the same parish community.

Maundy Thursday

The word 'maundy' comes from mandatum, or command, given by Christ at the Last Supper that we should love one another. This is remembered in the liturgy through the 'washing of feet' in imitation of Christ's humility and service at the Last Supper.

The liturgy also commemorate in a special way the institution of the 'Sacrament of sacraments', the Eucharist.

After the mass the Blessed Sacrament is taken to an altar of repose and reserved there to provide a focus of devotion for the faithful, watching and waiting with Jesus and the disciples in Gethsemane.

Queen to attend NI Maundy service

The Queen will break with centuries of tradition later when she attends the first Maundy Thursday service to take place outside England and Wales.

It is being held in St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastical capital.

The leaders of the four main churches on the island are to attend the traditional alms-giving ceremony.

It marks the final day of a three-day visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Northern Ireland.
Representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths will also attend the service, at which the Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady and the Duke of Edinburgh are expected to give readings.

Maundy Thursday has been celebrated since the earliest days of the Christian Church.

The word Maundy is derived from Latin and refers to Christ's commandment at the Last Supper to love one another, before he washed the feet of his disciples.

The tradition of the sovereign giving alms to the poor stretches back to at least the 12th Century and there are continuous records from the reign of King Edward 1.

From the middle ages, the number of recipients mirrors the sovereign's years.

The Queen will present Maundy Thursday alms purses to 164 people - 82 men and 82 women.
These people come from all over Northern Ireland and are deemed to have made a significant contribution to church or community life.

The distribution of the alms comes in two parts. The red purse contains an allowance in place of food and clothing given in bygone times.

In the white purse there are Maundy coins, as many pence as the Queen is years old (82).

The coins are legal tender, but because they are so rare are sought after by collectors.

Pupils from local schools, who are known as Maundy children, will attend the Queen.

The Chapel Royal Choir and the choir of St Patrick's Cathedral will lead the worship.

Bishop uses shoe shine to replace foot washing

A Bishop has rolled up his sleeves to give shoppers a free, symbolic, shoe shine in place of the traditional foot-washing.

The Rt Rev Ian Cundy, Bishop of Peterborough, and more than 10 other clergymen and women from across the city gave shoppers' shoes "a bit of spit and polish" in Cathedral Square, reports the local online news service Peterborough Now.

The session, which took place on Maundy Thursday was held to represent a modern version of Christ washing the feet of the 12 disciples at the Last Supper.

Diocesan Mission Enabler the Rev Tim Sledge, who took part in the event, explained: "The message of Easter is that God has given us a free gift ñ his love ñ and the promise of a new start in life.

"He offers to clean us up and set us on our feet again."

"So we're giving people a free, but symbolic, gift by cleaning their shoes."

The bishop, who sat in the line up of clergy members for the full hour the session lasted, added: "This is a good way of telling people about Easter, particularly the washing of the feet.
"Hopefully, people will visit their local church on Easter Sunday, too."

People of all ages sat in front of the shoe shiners to have their footwear cleaned.

The Archdeacon of Northampton, a former Royal Marine, said he had enjoyed polishing shoes.
He added: "People from the marines have a very clear purpose, and so do we with doing this.
"We are polishing shoes today, because it's a bit cold for washing feet."