The Westminster Dictionary of Worship has this explanation for the name Maundy Thursday: "The title for Thursday in Holy Week derives through Old French mande from the Latin 'mandatum novum,' 'a new commandment' (John 13:34), associated with the ceremonial washing of feet, which is still continued in some token form in Rome. The English distribution of Maundy money by the sovereign was a vestigial trace of this."
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, April 08, 2004 at 06:13 AM
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