Maundy Thursday takes us into the heart of the city of Jerusalem to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. We are also led to the heart of love, by the Saviour who serves and washes the feet of his friends as they shared their final meal. After supper they go out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake while he prays. Judas, the betrayer, comes with soldiers and Jesus is arrested.
On this day at 11.00am there will be a Diocesan Service of Renewal: Diocesan Chrism Eucharist, whereby Clergy and Ministers from across the Diocese gather with the Bishops to renew their vows and receive Holy Oils for ministry in the year to come. This year we also say farewell to the Bishop of Basingstoke.
At 7.00pm we celebrate the Institution of Holy Communion with the Eucharist of The Last Supper. The singing of the Gloria, which has been omitted during Lent, returns on this day and gold vestments are worn. In obedience to his command to ‘do this in remembrance of me’ we shall recall Jesus’ act of self-giving love in dying to redeem us, prefigured in the Last Supper.
As the mood of the end of this service changes from celebration to the agony of prayer, betrayal, arrest and trial, the altars are stripped of all ornament and decoration to represent the stripping of Jesus before his crucifixion.
The service culminates in the Watch of Prayer at the Holy Sepulchre Chapel, in which we watch with Christ in solemn recollection of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
8.00am: Silence and Morning Prayer
8:30am: Eucharist
11.00am: Diocesan Chrism Eucharist with farewell to Bishop of Basingstoke
5.30pm: Evening Prayer
7.00pm: Eucharist of the Last Supper with The Watch
Preacher: The Reverend Canon Dr Judith Maltby
