The Candlelight Sanctuary

What is Maundy Thursday? When is Maundy Thursday? These are two questions I’m often asked when I mention this very special day. It seems most Christians are familiar with the event which occurred on this evening, but many just did not know the day had a name like many other days celebrated by Christians world wide. The word maundy is derived from the Latin mandatum and means commandment.
Maundy Thursday is the Thursday immediately preceding Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is the night, which our Lord was betrayed and the same night in which He instituted, what we observe now, as Holy Communion. It is also referred to as the Lord’s Supper or the Last Supper.
Protestant Churches that do not have a liturgical service usually do not adhere to the liturgical calendar. This is the primary reason so many reformed Christians are unaware of the name for the day. Another reason would be the fact that most Churches that do not have a formal liturgy, also, do not observe this sacrament on the Thursday before Easter Sunday.
The foregoing is a short explanation, but I thought today would be appropriate for this brief discussion.
The words of institution follow:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying: Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.