Maundy Thursday
This Sunday will be my 15th Easter at Emmanuel. As the years have passed, I’ve served with several clergy, each bringing their own gifts and approach to Holy Week and Easter, yet always rooted in the Book of Common Prayer. Directing the Emmanuel Choir has been a constant, although the membership is always changing. Within the walls of our church, I have played “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!” from two different pipe organs, and one year, even an Allen electronic organ borrowed from our friends at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. I’ve been witness to children experiencing their first Easter church service and I’ve been witness to those proclaiming that, “The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia.” for one final utterance.
At Eastertime, there are plenty of traditions that are followed, but this year, one moment in particular, gave me pause as I journeyed through Holy Week. It happened on Thursday night.
For me, Maundy Thursday has always been one of the most powerful and important services of the liturgical year. The term comes from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos, ut et vos diligatis invicem.” (“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”) The phrase is used as the antiphon sung by the choir and congregation during the ceremony of the washing of the feet.
Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the eucharist by Jesus “on the night he was betrayed.” As the development of liturgical worship reached universal practice in the 4th century, Egeria, a 4th century pilgrim to Jerusalem, described elaborate celebrations and observances in that city on Maundy Thursday.
Our Maundy Thursday observance follows the liturgy as outlined in the Triduum in The Book of Common Prayer. We hear the words of institution, and we hear the Gospel description of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. The liturgy we celebrate reenacts those moments in the Gospel. It is a moving service. It was only last year that I ever choose to participate in the foot washing. I’m glad I did, as it transformed me in some way.
After Thursday’s service, an overnight vigil was held in the church, largely organized by Mike and Windy Pratt. I have been in parishes where an altar of repose is set up in a side chapel, usually decorated with candles and flowers. Members of the congregation participate in a watch or vigil from the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday service until the beginning of the Good Friday service. Thursday’s vigil was in that spirit.
When I finished my evening duties and the family had gone home, I returned to the church. It was bathed in candlelight from the aisle candles. I noted the presence of several friends in the shadows of the church, found a pew, and kneeled and prayed. I let my mind go totally free and I allowed myself to be open to the Holy Spirit. It was a restful and reverent time.
After praying, I just sat in the silence. My mind wandered into memories of churches I have prayed in where I have lit vigil candles of prayer or intention. For those unfamiliar with vigil candles, the lit candle symbolizes your prayer, as the other candles represent the prayers of brothers and sisters in Christ, and the candles then keep vigil in the church when you cannot physically be present. The candles serve as a reminder that we are truly never alone and together, all the small prayers form a great flame. Thursday night, in the dimly lit, silent church, I heard Jesus’s words, found in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.”
Before I left, I took a picture of the church so I could remember the holiness of the moment. I wanted to remember the awe. And as I drove past the front of the building, the stained-glass window of Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan River was radiant. All the other windows were dark. The luminous image of water and baptism, cast into the dusk, certainly wasn’t a coincidence.
On Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be flowers and candles and choirs and strings and even a trumpeter. The congregation and the organ will sing praises to the Lord. The children will flower the cross and gather eggs in their baskets. It will be joyous and glorious. It truly is a spectacular day.
But if you are a casual church goer, I want to extend an invitation to you for next year. Come to the services we hold on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Come and walk closer with God, even if that means hearing some tough passages of Scripture. Even the Mamas and the Papas know that the darkest hour is just before dawn. When you have walked through Holy Week, the light of Christ just seems more brilliant and encompassing than I can describe.
I pray that for all of us, no matter the level of devotion or piety, that we can recognize the blessings found here in the community we call Emmanuel. God has given us the gift of this parish, a place where we can nurture and grow our spiritual life. May we ever be grateful to those who came before us and made a place for us – a home. As we move into the future, may we also live into our calling to make a place for those yet to come. Happy Easter.
Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III
Organist/Choirmaster