Holy Thursday Mass

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The last few Holy Thursday Masses I’ve gone to where at 2 different parishes: one had 12 people of both genders for the feet washing preselected, the other parish chose 12 males of various ages ahead of time who sat in a certain spot in the pews.
 
A picture of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio washing the feet of a woman on Holy Thursday at the Sarda maternity hospital in Buenos Aires on March 24, 2005, can be seen in this Times Magazine story.

As Pope Francis, he probably has the authority to interpret the rubrics for us. 🙂

Sometimes, we miss the forest for the trees. The message Jesus conveyed through the washing of the feet was that authority is practiced through service. That is what is important to remember.
 
I am in the RCIA & we were told to attend Mass on Holy Thursday & wear sandals since we will get our feet washed. I am a woman so it sounds like my parish washes the feet of women.
 
Rubrics aside, if we look at the history of the Washing of the Disciples Feet, it is reasonable that it should be 12 men. At the Last Supper, it’s reasonable to assume Jesus wasn’t alone with just the 12 Apostles. There would have been others present. There would have been servers, and cooks and probably as many of his followers who could fit in the room. The traditional pictures we see of the Last Supper focus on the “head table” as it were, because those 13 men, Jesus and his Apostles, were the main players in the Pascal Drama. Certainly his own mother was there. She would have known what was going to happen. If Jesus took such pains to explain to his Apostles what was going to happen that night, surly he would have told his own mother. Yet he didn’t wash her feet. He washed only their feet. It was part of his teaching on the duties of their apostolic ministry. An message in deeds of what it means to be a servant. Just like his death was message in deeds of his great love.

When the priest, who is in persona christie capitas, washes the feet of those who serve, or those who are coming into the church, he is following Christ. Therefore, it is appropriate that it be 12 men.

When he was Bishop, Pope Francis washed the feet of a woman at a maternity hospital. Perhaps that was because of the venue? It was, after all, a maternity hospital, which means there were no doubt a whole lot more women than men present. Just saying. But if there are only…say…5 or six male doctors present, and you traditionally need 12 people, doesn’t it make sense to use women? I don’t know the customs of birth in that part of the world, but it culturally, men aren’t present once their wives go into the hospital, then there may not have been enough men around. The point is, just because the Pope washed the feet of women at a maternity hospital, doesn’t mean that our priests should, necessarily, wash the feet of women in our parishes. I think in most cases, our priests and bishops do their very best to lead their dioceses in communion with the Holy See. We should pray for them, and be supportive of them.
Kris
 
sumusresnovarum said:
It kind of depends where you are at. By the book, after the homily the priest removes his chasuble and will wash the feet of a group of people representative of the parish (a catechist, a pastoral council member, a youth group member, etc.). Ideally, this should number 12 people to be symbolic of Jesus’s washing the apostle’s feet at the Last Supper. Some places, however, will invite the whole congregation or whoever wishes to come up and have their feet washed. I have even been somewhere where the foot washing was replaced with hand washing (although this is not in keeping with the rubrics for Holy Thursday).

Other than the feet washing, the mass is pretty normal until the end, when the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession to an Altar of Repose usually outside the Church. It is a pretty cool event and I encourage you to attend the entire Triduum… best liturgical time of the year, IMHO.
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it a beautiful mass to go to

: In nomine Patris, + et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Introibo ad altare Dei. R: Ad deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.
 
lllj said:
So this is a really idiotic question - I grew up Catholic, but never in my life have I attended a Holy Thursday mass, and I’m planning to this year. What exactly takes place? I know washing of the feet is involved, but who gets their feet washed, how is this incorporated into mass, etc…?
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It is like a normal Mass, with two possible exceptions:
  1. Following the homily, some or all of the men may have their feet washed. Women may not have their feet washed. Rome, and the Missal has made this clear.
  2. Following the Mass, is a eucharistic procession to the altar of repose. This does not happen only if the good friday liturgy will not take place in the same church the following day.
Also, bells are to be rung during the gloria, then after the gloria, any extra instruments not needed to support the singing are not to be used (no preludes, interludes, flutes, trumpets, or extra instruments beyond what is absolutely needed. If possible, it should be a capella).
 
Our Priest will be washing feet of some selected members of the congregation.
But to chime in, we use “Maundy Thursday” all the time.
It’s also when we (or most people I know) do Spring cleaning, and try to get it done by Good Friday.

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
 
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