Month: April 2012

Good News on a “Good” Friday

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Today is “Good Friday”, considered “good”  because in Middle English the word refers to holiness and piety.

Remember, it is a day of abstinence, so no meat today. It is also a day of fasting, which means you are allowed only one full meal today and two small snacks. This is health permitting, of course. It is also only a requirement for those between the age of 18 and 59.

Sounds like a the case of the Maundays…

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Today is Holy Thursday. Last week at JP2 I referred to this day as “Maundy Thursday” and was greeted with a number of confused looks. Apparently this moniker isn’t used that often in the United States…

The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from a verse in John’s Gospel. The Latin translation in the Vulgate is as follows:

“Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos”
– Johannes XIII:XXXIV

The word “Maundy”  is a corruption of the first word in the above quotation. That word, “Mandatum”, is the root from which we get the English words “mandate” and “mandatory”, terms which we use to indicate that something is required. This is because “Mandatum” literally means “commandment”, as we can see from the translation of the previous passage:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”
– John 13:34

This is the passage which we will hear read at Mass today and which is then enacted by the priest, where he washes the feet of twelve of his parishioners, in imitation of Christ washing the feet of the Twelve:

Abide With Me

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“Abide With Me” by Henry Lyte  is probably one of my all-time favourite hymns:

We sang it at my grandfather’s funeral. It seems appropriate for Maundy Thursday…

1. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.		 2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
3. I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.		 4. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
5. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me

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