Mass of the Lord’s Supper
7:30 PM

With Holy Thursday we begin the Sacred Paschal Triduum, the most sacred time in the Church’s year as we commemorate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no Mass in the morning as the Triduum begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper celebrated at 7:30p.m. in our chapel.  At the Mass our monastery bell and handbells are rung during the singing of the Gloria and then all bells in the monastery are silent until the Gloria is once again sung during the Easter Vigil.  

In the first reading from the book of Exodus (12:1-8, 11-14) the Lord instructs Moses and Aaron as to how the first Passover is to be celebrated, “That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a Passover in honour of the Lord…This day is a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour.  For all generations you are to declare it as a festival, for ever.”

In the second reading we have Paul’s account of the Last Supper which he passed on to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)  and he reminds us that “Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.”

In the Gospel (John 13:1-15) we have the account of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet at the last supper.  We are reminded of the Lord’s words “If I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet.”

The Mass of the Lord’s Supper ends abruptly with the concluding prayer.  There is no final blessing as on other days; instead there is silence as the chief celebrant leaves the celebrant leaves his place to stand before the main altar, on which is the ciborium containing the Hosts consecrated for Good Friday.  After putting incense in the thurible, he kneels before the altar and incenses the sacrament three times. Upon rising he takes the ciborium in his hands, wrapping it with the ends of a humeral veil draped across his shoulders. The celebrant and acolyte swaying the thurible process to the altar of repose while the Pange Lingua is sung.  On the altar of repose there is a tabernacle and candles.  The celebrant places the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle as the final verses of the Pange Lingua is sung.  The celebrant spends a few minutes in quiet prayer before returning to the sacristy.  The chapel is now silent. The vigil of Gethsemane has begun.

*See James Monti,  The Week of Salvation, Our Sunday Visitor, Indiana, USA, 1993