Maundy Thursday Observed with Solemnity in Udupi District
Udupi: Christians in the district observed Maundy Thursday on March 29, to commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist by Jesus Christ with church services in the evening. The main celebrant washed the feet of men and women.
Catholic churches commemorate the events of the Last Supper with the chief celebrant of the Maundy Thursday mass washing the feet of 12 lay persons.
Bishop of Udupi Diocese, Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo, performed this ritual at the Milages Cathedral in Kallianpur.
In his homily, the Bishop emphasised the significance of Maundy Thursday. Thereafter he washed the feet of laypersons reminding the washing of the feet of 12 Apostles by Jesus Christ.
Since the Last two years, Pope Francis changed the rules and included women and girls to the dozen people whose feet are ceremoniously washed in each church on Holy Thursday.
In the Milagres Cathedral, Bishop Lobo washed the feet of 12 persons including five women (four lay women and one nun). The same gesture was followed across the diocese.
Following the end of the mass, the Holy Eucharist was taken ceremoniously to the floral decorated Altar of Repose while the main altar was stripped of the white covering and the flowers removed and was left bare.
The reverential transfer of the Holy Eucharist to the Altar of Repose was followed by the adoration.