Maundy Thursday: A Rookie Anglican Guide
What’s “Maundy Thursday?”
Has there ever been a child who didn’t think I was saying Monday Thursday during the Holy Week announcements? Growing up, I thought today was Monday Thursday until about age 14. No one could explain why it was called Maundy Thursday when I finally learned it was Maundy rather than Monday! Friends, I have trekked through the boring dictionaries of liturgy for you! Maundy derives from the Latin mandatum, meaning commandment.
Because Thursday night of Holy Week corresponds to the Last Supper, it includes Jesus saying that this is the night of that New Commandment; in other words, it is New Commandment Thursday. The Eastern Orthodox Church knows it as Great and Holy Thursday.
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Maundy Thursday services traditionally include a focus on the Last Supper, as the beginning of the Triduum or the Great Three Days; it is also the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist, Communion). In many places, a foot washing service is included, and the service often ends with the Stripping of the Altar, an essential Maundy Thursday tradition.
Stripping of the Altar
Interestingly, the Stripping of the Altar did not grow out of a liturgical decision made from “on high” (few liturgical developments are planned, but that’s a story for another day). Instead, this tradition developed simply because the altar guilds needed to strip the altar after Maundy Thursday in preparation for the bare, stark altar on Good Friday. People stayed after worship to observe this, and it was soon experienced as a powerful spiritual moment.
Today, the stripping and washing of the altar is often an integral part of Maundy Thursday. Traditionally, there would be no Eucharist on Good Friday. In some places, the sacrament is reserved from Maundy Thursday to be administered on Good Friday. Either way, Maundy Thursday ends with the starkness of the empty, bare altar. Our souls are bare as well as we begin to walk through the rest of the weekend.
Seder, the Jewish Feast
A new trend has emerged for holding a Seder Dinner. The Seder is the historic Jewish feast that was held on the night before Passover. Jesus and his disciples would have been meeting that night for such a feast of remembrance, coinciding with the tradition of Maundy Thursday. The only problem with today’s Seders is that they are often based on Jewish traditions that were developed much later than Jesus’ time. Some have felt that we were displacing the authenticity of Judaism by holding these meals.
In recent years, some have tried to acknowledge that fact. They see the Seder as a remembrance of the Last Supper, and an acknowledgment that the Jewish people are especially beloved to Christians. While there is no harm in understanding the Jewish roots of our Holy Week practices, we must not fall into the Galatian error, or distract ourselves from Christ’s cross; we should not empty ourselves, as Jesus emptied himself for us, only to attempt to fill ourselves with a pseudo-observance of Judaic oral law on this solemn Maundy Thursday. We should prepare ourselves reverently to observe the upcoming Easter.
Worshipping Somberly
As we enter the Great Three Days, we need to be open to silence, to reverence, and a somber tone. One thing I appreciate about Anglicanism is how it doesn’t shy away from these modes. In some traditions, the tone is always either happy or sad. In the classic Christian tradition, there is another “key” we can worship in during Maundy Thursday.
For example, during the Stripping of the Altar, we sit in silence; we depart in silence. This is not intended to be sad or depressing. It is contemplative, reflective, and reverent. If that’s new for you, try it out this year. Just experience it openly and then reflect on your experience later.
Maundy Thursday Doesn’t End on Maundy Thursday
This New Commandment and the Holy Meal are instituted this night, not completed. Jesus shaped his disciples about servanthood and fellowship. Serving one another, serving the least and the outcast, and seeing ourselves not as masters but as those who serve. This servanthood is grounded on holy fellowship, with God and man at the table. Maundy Thursday was only the beginning! We are called to be Maundy Christians daily.
Photo by: Bill Eccles on Unsplash
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