Maundy (foot washing)
Maundy, or Washing of the Saints' Feet, Washing of the Feet, Nipter, or Pedelavium or Pedilavium, is a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations. The word mandatum is the first word of the Latin Biblical quotation sung at the ceremony of the washing of the feet: "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos", from the text of John 13:34 in the Vulgate. The ceremony commemorates the commandment of Christ that his disciples should emulate his loving humility in the washing of the feet. The medieval Latin term mandatum, came to apply to the rite of foot-washing on the Thursday preceding Easter Sunday, known in English as "Maundy Thursday" since at least 1440.
John 13:2–17 recounts Jesus' performance of this action. In verses 13:14–17, Christ instructs His disciples:
The Early Church practiced footwashing prior to the receiving of the Eucharist, and the rite was recorded early in the third century by the Christian apologist Tertullian, who discussed it involving a basin of "water for the saints' feet", along with a "linen towel".
Some Christian denominations throughout Church history have practiced foot washing as a church ordinance, including Adventists, Anabaptists, Free Will Baptists, Missionary Methodists, and Pentecostals. Of these, certain denominations, such as the Dunkard Brethren Church, regularly practice feetwashing as part of the lovefeast, which includes the holy kiss, feetwashing, communion, and a communal meal. Many Christian denominations observe the liturgical washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week.
Background
The root of this practice is to be found in the hospitality customs of ancient civilizations, especially where sandals were the chief footwear. A host would provide water for guests to wash their feet, provide a servant to wash the feet of the guests or even serve the guests by washing their feet. This is mentioned in several places in the Old Testament of the Bible, as well as other religious and historical documents. A typical Eastern host might bow, greet, and kiss his guest, then offer water to allow the guest to wash his feet or have servants do it. Though the wearing of sandals might necessitate washing the feet, the water was also offered as a courtesy even when shoes were worn.1 Samuel is the first biblical passage where an honored person offers to wash feet as a sign of humility. In John 12, Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus' feet presumably in gratitude for raising her brother Lazarus from the dead, and in preparation for his death and burial. The Bible records washing of the saint's feet being practised by the early church in I Timothy perhaps in reference to piety, submission and/or humility. There are several names for this practice: maundy, foot washing, washing the saints' feet, pedilavium, and mandatum.
The foot washing, described in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, is concerned with the Latin title of Servus servorum dei, which was historically reserved to the Bishops and to the Pope, also called the Bishop of Rome. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, commissioned the Twelve to be Servant of the Servant of God, and this calling to the Imitation of Christ has been firstly extended to all the bishops of the Church as the direct successors of the Apostles. The Apostles received the Holy Spirit from Jesus in the gospel of John chapter 20.22 and in fullness upon the day of the Pentecost in chapter 2 of the Book of Acts, for the evangelization and salvation of all the human race. This belief is common to Catholics, to some denominations of the Western Christianity, and is consistent and in keeping with Eastern Christian beliefs.
It is also recalled in the Latin text of the Magnificat, for which God "regarded the lowliness" of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and, by effect of that, "magnified" her. God also did the same to all the other creatures, both before and after the Incarnation, for:
- Jesus Christ God: as affirmed in ;
- all the angels: the Satan's mighty pride to be like God made him the fallen angel before the creation of man, and also it was punished with the promised mission of a woman, a Servant of God, which would have bruise his head. On the opposite side, the lowliness of St Michael the Archangel made him the head of the hierarchy of angels;
- all the human creatures: according to the promise of Jesus in.
Biblical reference
Jesus demonstrates the custom of the time when he comments on the lack of hospitality in one Pharisee's home by not providing water to wash his feet in Luke 7:44:
History
The rite of foot washing finds its roots in scripture, where Jesus tells his followers "to wash one another's feet". After the death of the apostles or the end of the Apostolic Age, the practice was continued.Footwashing was practiced in the early centuries of post-apostolic Christianity, with Tertullian mentioning the practice as being a part of Christian worship in his De Corona. Footwashing was done with a basin "of water for the saints' feet" and a "linen towel", prior to the reception of the Eucharist. Additionally, in the 1st century, Christian women went to locations in which marginalized people resided and washed their feet. The early Church Father Clement of Alexandria linked the new sandals given to the Prodigal Son with feetwashing, describing "non-perishable shoes that are only fit to be worn by those who have had their feet washed by Jesus, the Teacher and Lord." The early Church thus saw footwashing to be connected to repentance, involving a spiritual cleansing by Jesus.
Around 256 AD, Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage, wrote about footwashing teaching "the hands how to act in service".
It was practiced by the Church at Milan and is mentioned by the Council of Elvira. The Church Fathers Origen, as well as John Chrysostom and Augustine encouraged the practice as an imitation of Christ.
Observance of foot washing at the time of baptism was maintained in Africa, Gaul, Germany, Milan, northern Italy, and Ireland.
According to the Mennonite Encyclopedia "St. Benedict's Rule for the Benedictine Order prescribed hospitality feetwashing in addition to a communal feetwashing for humility"; a statement confirmed by the Catholic Encyclopedia. It apparently was established in the Roman church, though not in connection with baptism, by the 8th century.
The Greek Orthodox Church counted footwashing among the sacraments, though it was not practiced that often.
The Synod of Toledo "declared that footwashing should be observed on Maundy Thursday" and Roman Catholic churches thus came to observe footwashing on that day.
The Albigenses and the Waldenses' practiced footwashing as a rite.
There is some evidence that it was observed by the early Hussites; and the practice was a meaningful part of the 16th century radical reformation, which resulted in Anabaptist denominations regularly practicing footwashing as an ordinance.
Denominations practicing ritual foot-washing
The ritual washing of feet is currently practiced in many religious denominations including those listed below.Roman Catholic
In the Catholic Church, the ritual washing of feet is now associated with the Mass of the Lord's Supper, which celebrates in a special way the Last Supper of Jesus, before which he washed the feet of his twelve apostles.File:Maundy_foot_washing_Philippines1.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Feet washing in 2024, Bulacan
Evidence for the practice on this day goes back at least to the latter half of the 12th century, when "the pope washed the feet of twelve sub-deacons after his Mass and of thirteen poor men after his dinner." From 1570 to 1955, the foot-washing service was celebrated separately from that of the Holy Thursday Mass, typically done several hours after the Mass had ended. For many years Pius IX performed the foot-washing in the sala over the portico of St. Peter's Basilica.
File:Court function at the Palace of Ribeira in 1748.jpg|thumb|left|300px|John V of Portugal performs the Washing of the Feet rite in Ribeira Palace, 1748.
In 1955 Pope Pius XII revised the ritual and inserted it into the Mass. Since then, the rite is celebrated after the homily that follows the reading of the gospel account of how Jesus washed the feet of his twelve apostles. Some persons who have been selected – usually twelve, but the Roman Missal does not specify the number – are led to chairs prepared in a suitable place. The priest goes to each and, with the help of the ministers, pours water over each one's feet and dries them. There are some advocates of restricting this ritual to clergy or at least men.
In a notable break from the 1955 norms, Pope Francis washed the feet of two women and Muslims at a juvenile detention center in Rome in 2013. In 2016 it was announced that the Roman Missal had been revised to permit women to have their feet washed on Maundy Thursday; previously it permitted only males to do so. In 2016 Catholic priests around the world washed both women's and men's feet on Holy Thursday and "their gesture of humility represented to many the progress of inclusion in the Catholic church."
At one time, most of the European monarchs also performed feet washing in their royal courts on Maundy Thursday, a practice continued by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and the King of Spain up to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1181 Roger de Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller issued a statute declaring, "In Lent every Saturday, they are accustomed to celebrate maundy for thirteen poor persons, and to wash their feet, and to give to each a shirt and new breeches and new shoes, and to three chaplains, or to three clerics out of the thirteen, three deniers and to each of the others, two deniers".