Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday is the first day of the Easter Triduum, the final three days of Lent before Easter.
Coming at the high point of Holy Week or Passiontide, Maundy Thursday commemorates Christ’s Last Supper, at which he instituted the Eucharist, the Mass, and the priesthood.
Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word mandatum, which means “commandment.” Near the end of the Last Supper, after Judas had departed, Christ said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
