readoldthings

Maundy Thursday

We have now come to the holiest time of the year. On Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday to give it its English name, we come finally to the Last Supper, and thus to the First Communion and the institution of the priesthood.

Many customs associated with this day. In some countries it was common for the king or queen to wash the feet of the poor, in remembrance of the same action by Christ commemorated in today's Gospel (as we'll see.) In many churches, the washing of the feet is performed by the priest, or by the faithful for one another. Very often bells are rung this day, and then silenced, and will not be heard again until Easter. In many countries, children would run through the street announcing the time for mass, in lieu of bells; the bells themselves having, it was said, gone to Rome to be absolved of their sins. Of course this often led to Trick-or-Treating, after the usual fashion, sending children door to door to ask for candy having been the usual way our ancestors had for celebrating holidays of any kind.

Practice

The days that follow are the most solemn and the most holy of the year. It is my view at this time that the Easter season should not be used for practical magic, but only for works of meditation, devotion, almsgiving and repentance. If the mass is available to you in whatever form, you should at least attend on Easter Sunday, but daily mass going during Holy Week is a fine idea. Tomorrow's Good Friday service is very long and emotionally challenging, as it ought to be, but it will reward everything you put into it.

These days it is both our blessing and our curse to have livestreamed masses available on the internet, so that you can participate to a certain degree in the ceremony of any denomination you choose, including the more obscure, Esoteric or Esoteric-friendly ones that I personally prefer. Used properly, these can be a blessing, but you also run the risk of further entangling yourself in technology.

Missa Sicca

If a mass is unavailable, an option that I would like to see more widely practiced is the missa sicca, or "dry mass." This was a form of liturgy that was practiced in the Middle Ages when a priest did not have access to bread and wine. As such, it consists of every part of the mass-- except for the Eucharist. The disadvantage is obvious, but the advantage is that it may be practiced with good effect by any person, whether ordained or otherwise, and it makes for an excellent form of private meditation.

In order to perform the missa sicca, you need the text for the day's mass. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, as usual, and make use of every tool to expand that practice that we've discussed here. Then move onto the readings.

Down the road I'm going to do a longer post on the missa sicca as a magical practice unto itself. In the meantime, you can find a good how-to for personal use here, and a set of readings for every day of the year here.

The Stripping of the AltarsAt the close of the mass on Maundy Thursday the altars are stripped, the host removed to an altar of repose, as no hosts are consecrated during the masses on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. During this time, the 21st Psalm is sung. Whatever form your devotion takes today, you should definitely consider closing with its words:

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots.

O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.

But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.

In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.

All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.

“He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.”

For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God,

Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.

Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.

They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.

I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.

For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.

They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defense.

Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.

Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.

Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face form me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.

The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.

For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations.

All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.

There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots