Maundy Thursday stands at the threshold between Holy Week's penitential journey and the Passion itself. On this night, before he was betrayed, our Lord instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, took a towel and washed the disciples' feet, and gave the commandment from which the day takes its name: Mandatum novum do vobis — a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you.

The appointed Epistle from Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is the earliest written account of the institution of the Eucharist: the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it. Paul writes to a community where the Lord's Supper has been misused and fractured by division. His remedy is not to abolish the feast but to restore its meaning: the bread and cup are a proclamation of the Lord's death until he comes. Every celebration of Holy Communion is a Maundy Thursday in miniature.

The appointed Gospel from Saint John begins at the supper table: Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and took a towel. The washing of feet is an enacted parable of the Incarnation itself — the Lord of all descending to serve those who could not cleanse themselves. The Collect prays that we may thankfully receive these holy mysteries in remembrance of Jesus Christ, who in them gives us a pledge of life eternal.