Maundy Thursday (redirected from Great Thursday)

Maundy Thursday (môn`dē) [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus at the Last Supper (that is, the mandatum novum or "new commandment"). In some churches, Jesus's washing of the disciples' feet is symbolically reenacted. In Great Britain there is a survival in the distribution by the sovereign of special "maundy money" to certain of the poor at Westminster Abbey. In the Roman Catholic Church, Maundy Thursday is a general communion day; a single Mass is sung, in the evening, and a Host, consecrated for the morrow, is placed in a specially adorned chapel of repose. The altars are stripped bare until the Easter vigil mass.

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Maundy Thursday

Between March 19 and April 22 in West and between April 1 and May 5 in East; Thursday before Easter

Also known as Green Thursday in Germany from the practice of giving a green branch to penitents as a sign that their penance was completed; Shere or Sheer Thursday, meaning "free from guilt"; Paschal Thursday, Passion Thursday, or Holy Thursday, it is the day preceding Good Friday.
It commemorates Jesus' institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper, celebrated by Christians since the middle of the fourth century. The practice of ceremonial footwashing in imitation of Jesus, who washed his disciples' feet before the Last Supper as a sign and example of humility and love, has been largely discontinued in Protestant churches. However, the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion still celebrate the rites of Maundy Thursday, which may include handing out special coins known as "Maundy money" to the aged and the poor, instead of footwashing. Also on this day, the sacramental Holy Oils, or chrism, are blessed.
The name "Maundy" probably comes from the Latin mandatum, or "commandment," referring to Jesus' words after he washed the feet of his disciples: "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34).

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 235
BkDays-1864, vol. I, p. 411
BkFest-1937, pp. 56, 183, 227, 329
DaysCustFaith-1957, p. 106
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 694, 1163
EncyEaster-2002, p. 386
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 61
FestWestEur-1958, pp. 8, 60, 93, 212
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 167
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 244
OxYear-1999, p. 617
SaintFestCh-1904, p. 158

Celebrated in: Denmark, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Norway, Philippines, Uruguay, Venezuela