Holy (Maundy) Thursday
Tonight the Sacred Triduum begins. The Triddum meaning 'three days' commemorates the 3 holiest days of the year. The liturgy beginning at the Mass of the Lord's Supper until the conclusion of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday is seen as one liturgy. The Triduum itself ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday because from Evening on Holy Thursday to Good Friday is one day, Good Friday to Holy Saturday the second and Holy Saturday until Easter Sunday the third. Tonight our Lord will institute the Priesthood and the Eucharist and give us the new commandment to love one another. This is why today is called Maundy Thursday from the word mandatum for commandment. After the Last Supper, Jesus will pray in the Garden of Gethsemane and in His agony and anxiety, sweat blood. It is in the Garden that Jesus is betrayed, arrested and His blessed Passion will begin. Tonight is a special day of Eucharistic devotion due to Jesus’ instituting the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament today. For the first time since Lent has begun the Gloria will be sung to commemorate the first Mass and rejoice in the Eucharist. The bells of the church will be rung while the Gloria is sung. After the Gloria the bells won't ring until the Easter Vigil including at the Eucharistic consecration. Some legends say the bells go to Rome to see the Pope and some cultures have the bells as gift bringers on Easter like the Easter Bunny in other cultures. Holy Thursday as a whole is a mixture of joy and sorrow and the liturgical practices of the Church are an intimate following with Jesus’ in His Passion, as they are throughout all of Holy Week and through the liturgical year. Therefore the faithful attend the Mass of the Lord’s Supper as if at the Last Supper.
Today’s liturgical color is white or gold for the glory of God in the institution of the Eucharist. Any variation of those would be fitting for laypeople to wear, orange or yellow for example. Red, black or purple on top is best to refrain from as they are more fitting for Lent and Good Friday. Blue is fitting for the symbolism of the washing of the feet or Our Lady of the Eucharist.
Eucharistic Gestures Note: At Mass on Holy Thursday, bow when passing before the altar and genuflect before the tabernacle when entering your pew. At adoration, genuflect on both knees. Do not genuflect where the tabernacle typically is in the church but at the altar of repose after Mass. It’s traditionally believed that the Eucharist Species (Bread and Wine) remains within the body for 15 minutes after reception of Holy Communion. Use these 15 minutes wisely by remaining in the presence of God. But as long as the Eucharistic species remain, Jesus is present, therefore in all the tabernacles of the world, Jesus is truly present: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Posture During Adoration
(Honor Jesus' sacrifice by refraining from meat, dairy, honey and eggs. Today is traditional a day of feasting but it can be done humanely Vegan Passover Recipes)
Prayers for the Seven Churches (The seven visits mark the seven points of Our Lord’s journey from Gethsemane to Calvary. Another option is to pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows and meditate on a Sorrow of Our Lady at each church or one of the Seven Last Words of Christ)
Holy Thursday with St Gertrude (p384)
Holy Thursday with the Mystics (Book 2 Chapter IX, #430-#544)
Holy Thursday with the Mystics Continued
The Tablecloth from the Last Supper
The Room Where the Last Supper Happened
Tonight, Jesus will suffer with those with mental illness as He will experience such severe anxiety that He will sweat blood. Jesus is like us in all things but sin and during these sacred day of days those with anxiety and depression can share in Christ’s suffering. Resignation to the Father’s Will even amidst aridity is the way of sharing in Christ’s Paschal Mystery all the more. Legend says that on Maundy Thursday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher if you place your ear to the pillar on which Christ was Scourged you will hear the ringing of the whips.
THE CLOCK OF THE PASSION by St. Alphonsus Liguori (an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be are prayed after each “hour” or step.
5-7pm Jesus, having taken leave of Mary, celebrates His last supper.
8pm Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles, and institutes the Most Holy Sacrament.
9pm Discourse of Jesus; He goes to the Garden of Olives.
10pm Prayer of Jesus in the garden.
11pm Agony.
Midnight The sweating of Blood.
1am Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and is bound.
2am Jesus is led before Annas.
3am Jesus is taken before Caiphas, and receives a blow in the face.
4am Jesus is blindfolded, struck, and scoffed at.
5am Jesus is led to the council, and declared guilty of death.
6am Jesus is taken to Pilate and accused.
7am Jesus is mocked by Herod.
8am Jesus is conducted to Pilate and Barabbas is preferred over Him.
9am Jesus is scourged at the Pillar.
10am Jesus is crowned with thorns and exhibited to the people.
11am Jesus is condemned to death and goes to Calvary.
Noon Jesus is stripped and Crucified.
1pm Jesus prays for His murderers.
2pm Jesus recommends His spirit to His Father.
3pm Jesus dies.
4pm Jesus is pierced with a lance.
5pm Jesus is taken down from the Cross, and delivered over to His Mother.
6pm Jesus is buried and left in the sepulcher.
At the Offertory in Mass (Adapted from St. Gertrude)
Receive I beg Thee Heavenly Father, my thankful heart in union with that love wherewith Thine Only Son offered to Thee the whole influx of the Godhead into His Humanity, and with gratitude referred it back to its perfect source. I ask Thee to place my heart in this precious chalice so that the prayers said over it may be prayed over my heart and make me a worthy vessel of praise by that same mystery by which Thou changest wine into the Precious Blood of Christ Your Son. I unite to this Sacrifice, to Christ’s graces, his sufferings and merits as well as my sufferings and those of all humankind. I unite to Christ’s perfect resignation to Thy adorable will so that all I do and all concerning me may be done for Thy good pleasure. To this end, my King and Lord, I lay myself, my dear ones, the dying and the poor souls in purgatory at Thy feet to serve Thee for evermore to the glory of Thy most worshipful Majesty. Amen.
“This offering of thy good will is as it were a royal scepter in My hand, and a rejoicing and a glory to Me in presence of all my Angels and Saints. And whenever thou renewest this intention before Me, it is as though that scepter budded and put forth most fragrant flowers.”-Jesus to St. Gertrude
Our Lord [revealed to St. Gertrude] that He would accept the recital of the Lord's Prayer two hundred and twenty-five times, in honour of His sacred Limbs and of as many acts of charity towards her neighbour, in thanksgiving to Him who has said: "So long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me" (Matt. xxv.) and in union with that love which made God become Man for us, and that she should deprive herself as many times of the vain and useless pleasures of earth and occupy herself only with the real and true pleasures of the Divinity. -This is to be a prayer of Reparation to the Eucharist
HOLY THURSDAY AROUND THE WORLD
In Ukraine people light fires to guide ghosts and ward off evil. They used candles to burn a cross into a beam of their homes. They lit candles from during thunderstorms as they were blessed during services for what's called passion candles. These candles healed, blessed childbirth and soothed the dying.
Czech people on this day will wake up early to wash in streams. This practice is a remedy for laziness. Cakes made to look like ropes were eaten to recall the death of the traitorous apostle. Tonight, similar to the custom of trick or treating, children will dress as Easter witches and go door to door. Finnish legend says witches have a dark gathering tonight so customs such as bon fires and loud noises were produced to ward them off.
German folklore says the Easter Bunny dyes red eggs today and various colors on Holy Saturday. Other cultures dye green eggs today to reflect the joy of penitents who carry green branches on this day known as Green Thursday.
Some cultures eat honey rolls today to prevent snake bites, toss them into wells for water, legend states honey keeps misfortune away. (Agave is a cruelty free honey alternative.)
Swedish superstition states women will have difficulty in childbirth if they spin today. But if you draw water from a well in the early morning today, you're safe from sunburn.
In Mexico to recall Jesus' agony, people will dress as angels and decorate a local garden to symbolize paradise. In this sacred place is the depiction of Christ's arrest by people dressed as soldiers or "sayonnes" that are fulfilling a promise made to God.
In Finland, bells are rung today to ward off evil spirits.
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