Ever wonder where the word Maundy comes from?
The Middle English word Maundy, used only in this context, derives from Old French mandé from Latin mandatum novum do vobis, from the words spoken at the Last Supper, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Jn13:34
Amen 
Can’t argue with that.
Thanks for that Walden.
Di’I miss some kind o’ cultural thing?
Ya…
Maybe, but hopefully the sentiment contained within the info’ that walden imparted should make it across most culture gaps, even if the etymology is of no interest.
It reaches me, and I’m sceptical agnostic.
-still clueless, tut mir leid-
It reaches me, and I am a witch.
I’ve never heard anyone use the word Maundy before just now. 
It refers to the Thursday just before Easter. It’s perhaps not so widely used a term as it once was.
A polite way of saying that maybe only us old geezers remember it. 
In the UK I think it still gets mentioned on TV and radio, especially in religious shows. I remember learning it when I was in junior school. But those were the days of religious assemblies and the vicar coming to speak once a week.
Don’t know whether most kids would hear about it now…
Every Maundy Thursday that nice Mrs H M Queen gives out bags of specially minted coins to a number of pensioners at a special church service. the number is always the same as the sovereign’s age so eighty of them this year.
It’s still the term used in Episcopal/Anglican churches for what Roman Catholics call “Holy Thursday.”
Hard to think of it as a “happy” day, though. Maundy Thursday services are very solemn occasions. Tonight in our church, after a solemn Eucharist commemorating Christ’s last supper with his disciples, the altar will be stripped, the sanctuary lights extinguished, we will leave the church in silence, and no communion will be consecrated until the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday night. In some churches, the priests and the congregants will take turns washing one anothers’ feet…the ultimate sign of humility in ancient Hebrew culture (something considered so base, not even a slave could be ordered to do it).
Redwolf
If Maundy Thursday doesn’t suit you, Happy Tew’s-Day Wodan’s-day, then.
djm
Actually, recently translated scrolls such as the Gospel of Judas suggest that what christ actually said at the last supper was “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. Now, who wants gravy?”
Thus, it should really be called “Gravy Thursday,” from Old French grane, from Latin granum, “grain, seed.”
Early christians often used this chant –
Maundy Maundy, can’t trust that day,
Maundy Maundy , sometimes it just turns out that way
Maundy morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Maundy Maundy , how could you leave and not take me.Maundy, Maundy, so good to me,
Maundy, Maundy, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Maundy, morning, Maundy, morning couldn’t guarantee
That Maundy evening you would still be here with me.
– which, of course, referred to the uncertainty of christ’s continued presence, possibly due to his reluctance to pick up the check.
For some odd reason, that was the tune that popped into my head as well. Don’t tell me Gonzo and I were twins separated at birth! 
McGuinn and McGuire couldn’t get no higher
but that’s what they were aimin’ at.
And no one’s getting fat except Mama Cass.
Just thought I’d throw that one in, too. 
When I was a kid, I used to get so confused, because my parents pronounced “Maundy” as “Monday.” "What do you mean it’s “Monday Thursday???” I’d ask, and they never were able to give me an adequate explanation for the name.
Nowadays I’ve very careful to pronounce it “MAWN-dee.”
Redwolf
Soorreeee!
.
Maundy coins are cool.
They were usually saved and put away so pristine old examples exist.
I don’t have this tradition. Was it to recall the thirty infamous shekels?
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_money
History of the Maundy ceremony
The present-day Maundy ceremony has evolved over the centuries and bears little relationship to the original rites to which it owes its origins. A fundamental aspect of the original Maundy service was the washing of the feet of the poor, which has its origins in Jesus’ washing of the feet of the Disciples at the Last Supper. In early ceremonies, senior clergymen would wash the feet of lower clergy, while in other ceremonies, the washing would be done by someone higher up the hierarchical order.
King Edward II (1307–1327) seems to be the first English monarch to have been recorded actively taking part in the ceremony, although King John (1199–1216) is said to have taken part in a ceremony in about 1210, donating small silver coins to the poor. King Edward III (1327–1377) washed feet and gave gifts including money to the poor; the practice continued regularly, with the participation of the monarch, until 1698.
Although the monarch did not participate personally, later ceremonies continued in which a selection of people were given Maundy money consisting of silver pennies totalling, in pence, the current age of the monarch. The washing of feet ended after the 1736 ceremony, until it was re-instated in the 2003 ceremony, when it was performed by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams.
In 1932, King George V agreed to take part personally in the distribution of the Maundy money, while the 1936 set was distributed by King Edward VIII, although the coins bore George V’s effigy. By 1953 it had become normal practice for the monarch to distribute the Maundy money, a practice which continues to this day.
The coins are small, the 4p is about the size of a U.S. dime though thinner. They are sterling silver.