Maundy Thursday.

As today is Maundy Thursday and as I know little about what Maundy Thursday actually means I thought I would look it up in my Dictionary. Having done so I now know more than when I started but still know little about Maundy Thursday as it is observed today.

1. Firstly, I learnt that Maundy comes via Latin from the French for Mandate or Commandment. i.e. John 13: 34. “A new Commandment I give unto You, That Ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (KJV)

2. I also learned that in the UK it refers to the distribution of Maundy money on the Thursday before Easter.

3. I further learned that Maundy money was special minted silver coins distributed by the British Sovereign on Maundy Thursday.

4. Lastly I learnt that Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter.

Not satisfied with that limited information and wanting more, I turned to the Net. The Net was only a little more illuminating.

Maundy Thursday.      n : the Thursday before Easter; commemorates the Last Supper

         [syn: Holy Thursday]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Maundy Thursday \Maun"dy Thurs"day\ [OE. maunde a command, OF.

   mand['e], L. mandatum, from mandare to command. So called from the ancient custom of washing the feet of the poor on this day, which was taken to be the fulfillment of the "new commandment," --John xiii. 5, 34.] (Eccl.)

   The Thursday in Passion week, or next before Good Friday. [1913 Webster]

1. WordNet® 2.0

Maundy

     n : a public ceremony on Maundy Thursday when the monarch distributes Maundy money

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Maundy \Maun"dy\, n. [See Maundy Thursday.]

   1. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [Obs.]

      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. The ceremony of washing the feet of the poor on Maundy

      Thursday.

      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   3. The alms distributed in connection with this ceremony or

      on Maundy Thursday.

   Note: In England, the foot washing is obsolete, but the

         "royal maundy" is distributed annually on behalf of the

         sovereign. Since 1890 this distribution has been made

         from Westminster Abbey.

         [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Maundy coins

It is to be remembered that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was inaugurated on the evening of the day before Christ’s Crucifixion, which would be Thursday as we observe the Easter event. That was when Christ took what was formerly the Jewish Passover and transformed it in to the Christian Communion or Lord’s Table.

So now you know as much as I do about what it originally meant but I still don’t know what it means today in Australia. How about you? What does Maundy Thursday mean to you? Is it a time to have a meal remembering Christ? Or just a time of Chocolate, hot Cross Buns and an extra long weekend? What say you: Walter