Maundy Thursday Service at PCPC Aril 1, 2022 – FESCH.TV

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

Maundy Thursday Service at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church April 14 at 6:30pm.

Follow along in the bulletin here:

“Maundy Thursday”

The word „maundy“ is an old English derivative of the Latin word „mandatum,“ which means „commandment.“ It is used to identify this day because it was on Thursday evening, at the Passover meal which we have come to know as „The Last Supper,“ that Jesus said, „I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another… This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.“
(John 13:34-35, 15:12-14)

“Stripping the Sanctuary:” The service for Maundy Thursday evening will conclude with the stripping of the sanctuary, which is done in absolute silence and in an unhurried, orderly fashion. The practice dates from the seventh century and originally served the practical purpose of cleaning the sanctuary in preparation for Easter, when all things are made new. In time, however, the practice became ceremonial in its own right. In silence communion vessels, tablecloths, pulpit and lectern hangings, and all other decorative and liturgical objects are sensitively removed, thus dramatizing the desolation, abandonment, and darkness of the passion and death of our Lord. The
sanctuary remains bare, through Good Friday, until the beginning of the Easter celebration. Ordinarily there is neither a blessing nor a postlude at the conclusion of the service. The church remains in semi–darkness, and all worshipers exit in silence. Symbolically, Christ, stripped of his power and glory, is now in the hands of his captors.

(From “The Book of Common Worship of The PCUSA.”)