Maundy Thursday

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Maundy Thursday. The Thursday before Easter. It celebrates Jesus' institution of the eucharist at the Last Supper on that day. The English name ‘Maundy’ derives from a Latin antiphon Mandatum novum (‘a new commandment’, John 13. 34) sung on this day. The royal Maundy Ceremony in the UK, in which the reigning sovereign distributes Maundy money to twelve deserving and (relatively) poor people, has lost all contact with the original commemoration.

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