ALTAR OF REPOSE - Catholic Liturgy for Maundy Thursday

RE: Maundy/Holy Thursday, it's interesting how various ethnic/language groups "name" days - and there is a THIRD "mystery" to be contemplated and recalled on this day, according to the Missale Romanum, besides the two that have been noted in this thread thus far.

From the Oxford Companion to the Year:

"The Thursday before Easter, from Mandatum novum do vobis (John 13:34), the beginning of the first antiphon in the ceremony of foot-washing. IN England, as formerly in many countries, the sovereign distributes Maundy money: one silver penny to one poor man and one poor woman for each year of the sovereign's age. It is also known as 'Sheer', 'Char', 'Shrift' and 'Sharp' Thursday (said by John Mirk in the fourteenth century to derive from cutting of hair or beards before Easter); in Germany it is GRU(e)DONNERSTAG, 'Green Thursday', after green branches given to penitents who had confessed on Ash Wednesday. Maundy Thursday is also sometimes called 'Holy Thursday', but this name is also give to Ascension Day.

In the mid 19th century in Rome it was the Roman nobility who washed the feet. Mary Crawford Fraser (b. 1851) recalls viewing the ceremony in Rome in her childhood:

'By Holy Thursday many thousands of pilgrims from all parts of Italy, but more especially from the South, had arrived in Rome; foreigners from all over the world flocked to the hotels, but little notice was taken of them. The housing and caring for the poor peasants, some of whom had walked two hundred miles or more, in great companies, praying and singing hymns all the way, occupied all the attention of the authorities. The were the personal guests of the Holy Father, and were made to feel that they were his very beloved children. The vast building of the 'Santo Spirito', which ran all the way from the Castel'Sant'Angelo to the Piazza of St. Peter's, was portioned out into dormitories and refectories where food and lodging was provided for all who had brought the necessary recommendation from their Parish Priest . . .

The greatest ladies in the world, in Court dress of black velvet and a long black veil, and wearing their most magnificent family jewels, came to do honour to the Pope's guests. The received the contadine and their babies and led them to the tables loaded with good things which ran down the hall, guiding them to their places, where each found her supper separately laid out. But before enjoying this, the poor dusty feet that had travelled so far must be washed, and the Princesses, following Christ's example, went around from one to another on their knees to perform this kindly act. The first time I witnessed it I found myself beside the group under Princess Massimo's care, and I shall never forget my amazement when I saw that dear and holy lady stagger forward with a tub of steaming hot water, and then kneel down and gently remove the sandals and stockings of a young woman who carried a tiny baby in her arms and who, as I knew by her costume, must have come from the further fastnesses of the Apennines. The Princess was wearing the famous Massimo pearls, string after string of enormous shimmering globes, which hung so far below her waist that they kept getting hopelessly mixed up with the hot water and soapsuds. Talking kindly to the dazzled contadina, she made a very thorough job of her distasteful taks, and when it was accomplished carried away her tub like any hospital nurse and prepared to attend to the next on the bench. For three nights, from Holy Thursday to Easter Eve, she and her peers rendered this tribute to poverty and faith, while their husbands and sons did the same for the men on the other side of the building.' (p. 618).

The Roman Missal currently in use specifies the title and the mysteries of the day in these words:

MISSALE ROMANUM, editio typica tertia, 2002:

FERIA V IN CENA DOMINI [Thursday in/of THE SUPPER OF THE LORD]

9. Post proclamationem Evangelii sacerdos habet homiliam, in qua illustrantur potissima mysteria quae hac Missa recoluntur, instiutio scilicet Eucharistiae et ordinis sacerdotalis necnon et mandatum Domini de caritate fraterna.

[After the proclamation of the Gospel, the priest gives the homily, in which are illustrated the chief mysteries which are reflected on in this Mass, namely, the institution of the Eucharist and the priestly order, as well as (necnon also has the sense of "no less than") the Lord's commandment regarding fraternal charity.]

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