The Triduum Sacrum refers to the three Holy Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.  In origin, the services which mark these Holy Days go back to the early centuries of the Christian religion.

Maundy Thursday is concerned with the Institution of the Eucharist by Our Blessed Lord in the Upper Room and with his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The Liturgy on Good Friday is pre-occupied with the Crucifixion of the Saviour.  The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday celebrates his Resurrection and our own sharing of his risen life through our membership of his Church.

By these three services the Church not only commemorates these events but also herself in every generation enters into their meaning.

Maundy Thursday

On the first Maundy Thursday night Jesus gave to his Church three precious gifts: the Blessed Sacrament, the Priesthood, and his new commandment to love one another, which he illustrated by his example of humbly washing his disciples’ feet.

In spite, therefore, of the imminence of the horror of Good Friday, the Church cannot refrain from rejoicing.  And so the vestments are white and the Gloria is sung to the accompaniment of the ringing of bells in thanksgiving for the Eucharist and the gift of the Blessed Sacrament.

The other emphasis is on the love which must animate the hearts and wills of each communicant.  On that solemn night before he died, Jesus took on the role of a servant and washed the feet of his disciples.  He told them, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another…” (NRSV, John 13:34).  The Latin for commandment is mandatum (as in mandatory) and it is from this that we get the word ‘Maundy’.

In Communion we are united with Christ, but Christ is one, he is not divided, and therefore in him we are also united with one another.  Our love for Christ, therefore, whom we receive in the Blessed Sacrament, will, if it is genuine, show itself in an active goodwill to all the members of his Church.  And this love should extend to all our fellow human beings.  Thus, love and charity to one’s neighbour is not only a condition of a good Communion but also its fruit.

After the sermon, the celebrant may wash the feet of some of the congregation as a token of Christian love and service.  The words of the Maundy Thursday Antiphon may be sung:

“Where charity and love are, there is God also.
When therefore we are gathered together as one body,
take heed that we are not inwardly divided from one another.
Let all malice and contention cease,
and let Christ our God be in our midst”.

After the Post Communion prayer, the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly carried to the altar of repose and the stripping of the sanctuary takes place.  The altar is a symbol of Christ (that is why we bow to it) and its stripping symbolises the stripping of his garments during his Passion until in the end all he had left were three nails and a Cross.  So the clergy and servers remove the altar frontal and cloths and other items such as candlesticks.  The stripping of the rest of the sanctuary of banners, lectern falls and so on, all remind us of the desolation of Jesus in his Passion.  A psalm may be sung while the stripping takes place.

And now the Watch begins.  We have left the Upper Room and are with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He says to us what he said to Peter, James and John, “Stay here and watch (stay awake) with me” (Matthew 26:38).  We watch in reparation for his agony and betrayal, for the sins of humankind, not least our own, which were the cause of his unimaginable suffering.  And we ponder on the mystery of the suffering Christ, so poignantly expressed in St Mark’s Gospel, “He was seized by horror and distress” (14:33) (1) and he prayed, “Abba, Father; for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want” (NRSV, 14:36).  And we stay in stillness, simply being with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on the altar of repose, as a sign of our loyalty and love and gratitude for all he has done and suffered for us.

Reference

1. Zerwick, M. and Grosvenor, M. (1988) A grammatical analysis of the Greek New Testament (3rd edition), Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

Note

For Common Worship material for Maundy Thursday, see http://www.churchofengland.org/media/41156/tspashw.pdf

Short talks

Short talks entitled The Lord’s Body and The Last Supper: its meaning are available in this section of the Holy Faith website.  The following talks are suitable for children: The Crucifixion and the Eucharist and The Blessed Sacrament.