“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
“The washing of the feet, the institution of the Eucharist, and his death on the cross indicate how and to what point we must love our brothers in order to fulfill the Lord’s command.” [1]
Does Jesus just want us to imitate His actions? No. He wants us to imitate both His action of service and His intention and attitude of love. “It was not so much a matter of imitating relations with one another; they were each to consider and behave to each other as though each were the servant of the other. Only humility like this will make it possible to fulfill the command that Jesus is about to give: ‘A new commandment I give to you that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another’ (ib. 34).” [2]
Why did Jesus wash the feet of His disciples? Jesus did this to show His apostles and each of us what it takes to follow Him. He washed their feet to be a perfect model of what a man should be to another man. “In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is ‘the perfect man,’ [3] who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer and he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way. [4]” [5]
It was also, “To give them a proof of His sincere love and great humility which they should imitate; to teach them that although free from sin, and not unworthy to receive His most holy body and blood, their feet needed cleansing, that is, that they should be purified from all evil inclinations which defile the heart, and prevent holy Communion from producing fruitful effects in the soul.” [6] Jesus tells the apostles, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over.” We may be “clean all over” or in the state of Grace, but we still but allow our Lord to cleanse us of every impurity.
Why does the priest wash peoples’ feet during Mass? Priests, as well as bishops and the Pope, wash the feet of others to show that if they are in the person of Christ and give their lives over to Him, they must live the example set before them by Jesus. “To commemorate the washing of the apostles’ feet by Christ, and to teach all, even the highest to exercise the necessary virtues of humility and charity towards all, even the lowest, according to the example given by Jesus.” [7]
Was this action of Christ taken literally or is it just symbolic? In the early Church, “it was almost a daily practice. St. Paul, when mentioning the qualities, which should adorn the Christian widow, includes that of washing the feet of the saints (1 Tim 5:10), that is, of the faithful. We find this act of humble charity practiced in the ages of persecution, and even later. The Acts of the saints of the first six centuries, and the homilies and writings of the holy fathers, are filled with allusions to it. Afterwards charity grew cold, and this particular way of exercising it was confined, almost exclusively, to monasteries. Still, from time to time it was practiced elsewhere…the holy king Robert of France, and, later Saint Louis, used to frequently wash the feet of the poor. The holy queen St. Margaret of Scotland, and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, did the same. The church with that same spirit which makes her treasure up every recommendation of her divine Lord, has introduced this act of humility into her liturgy, and it is today that she puts the great lesson before her children” [8]
How is the washing of the feet to be performed in the liturgy? The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states, “The men who have been chosen are led by the ministers to seats prepared in a suitable place. Then the Priest (removing his chasuble if necessary) goes to each one, and, with the help of the ministers, pours water over each one’s feet and then dries them.” [9] Those chosen represent the apostles present at the Last Supper. In the tradition of the Church poor have been chosen and even thirteen have been chosen instead of twelve. “The twelve apostles are represented by the twelve poor who, according to the most general practice, are chosen for this ceremony. The Pope, however, washes the feet of thirteen priests of as many different countries…But, why thirteen? Some have interpreted it thus: that it represented the full number of the apostolic college, which is thirteen; for St. Mathias was elected in Judas’s place, and our Lord Himself, after His Ascension, called St. Paul to be an apostle. Other authors, however, and among them the learned Pope Benedict XIV, assert that the reason of this number being chosen was the miracle related in the life of St. Gregory the Great. This holy Pope used, every day, to wash the feet of twelve poor men, whom he afterwards invited to his own table. One day, a thirteenth was present: it was an angel, who God had sent, that He might thereby testify how dear to Him was the charity of His servant. The ceremony of the washing of the feet is also called the Mandatum, from the first word of the first antiphon. After the deacon has chanted the Gospel of the Mass of Maundy Thursday, the celebrant takes off the cope, girds himself with a towel, and, kneeling down, begins to wash the feet of those who have been chosen. He kisses the right foot of each one after having washed it. Meanwhile the choir sings the following antiphons: Mandatum novum do vobis (I give you a new commandment)…” [10]
What else is done during the Mass on Holy Thursday? “The crucifix is covered with a white veil in memory of the sacred institution of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. The priest comes to the altar robed in white vestments; the Gloria in excelsis is solemnly sung, accompanied by the ringing of bells, and all Christians are exhorted to render praise and gratitude to the Lord for having instituted the Blessed Feast of Love; after the Gloria the bells are silent until Holy Saturday to indicated the Church’s mourning for the passion and death of Jesus; to urge us also to spend these days in silent sorrow, meditating on the sufferings of Christ, and in memory of the shameful flight of the apostles at the capture of their master, and their silence during these days. At the Mass the priest consecrates two hosts one of which He consumes at the Communion, and the other he preserves in the chalice for the following day, because no consecration takes place on Good Friday. The officiating priest does not give the usual kiss of peace before Communion, because on this day Judas betrayed his master with a kiss. After Mass, the consecrated host in the chalice, and the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, are taken in procession to the sacristy or repository, in memory of the earliest times of Christianity, when the consecrated hosts for the communicants and the sick, were kept in a place especially prepared, because there was no tabernacle on the altar. Moreover it also signifies Christ’s going to Mount Olivet, where His Godhead was concealed. After the procession the priests with the choir say Vespers in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.” [11]
Also, the candles, including the tabernacle candle that indicates Christ’s physical presence, are extinguished. This signifies that though we await His glorious resurrection, at this moment in time, Jesus’ human nature died and would be laid in the grave.
Lastly, the holy oils used in Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick are blessed. The consecrating of baptismal fonts and altar stones is also done on this day. [12] With so many of the Sacraments being blessed or taking place, we should give thanks to the Lord for instituting them.
[1] Divine Intimacy Vol. II pg. 116
[2] Divine Intimacy Vol. II pg. 116
[3] GS 38; cf. Rom 15:5; Phil. 2:5
[4] Cf. Jn. 13:15; Lk. 11:1; Mt. 5:11-12
[5] CCC 520
[6] The Church’s Year pgs. 234-235
[7] The Church’s Year pg. 235
[8] Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.; The Liturgical Year; Vol. 6; Passiontide & Holy Week
[9] GIRM; Thursday of the Lord’s Supper; Section 11
[10] Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.; The Liturgical Year; Vol. 6; Passiontide & Holy Week
[11] The Church’s Year pg. 232-233
[12] The Church’s Year pgs. 236-237