MAUNDY THURSDAY - THE LAST SUPPER

BASSANO, Jacopo
The Last Supper
  Galleria Borghese, Rome

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

The Last Supper

Come, my friends, it's Passover night.
Find the room; prepare the table.
Buy the bread; get the wine.
One of you will betray me.

Take and eat. This is my body,
Given for you.
Drink the cup, my blood shed for you
And many.

We'll not eat together again
Until kingdom come.
Sing with me now, for you'll run
When they take me.

"Oh, no, Lord, not I!"
Peter, my friend, you will,
And deny me, too.

(June Butler - 3/12/08)

Bassano's painting is admirable and unusual because he depicts Christ and the apostles as entirely human, rather than as haloed saints, and because the setting of gathering is somewhat disorderly in appearance, as such gatherings would be in real life.  Also, I love the dog curled up asleep by the table.

Gospel of Mark 14:12-25 (NRSV)  

JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES

GIOTTO di Bondone
No. 30 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 14. Washing of Feet
1304-06
Fresco, 200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

Psalm 116

I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
   I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
   our God is merciful.
The Lord protects the simple;
   when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears,
   my feet from stumbling.
I walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living.
I kept my faith, even when I said,
   ‘I am greatly afflicted’;
I said in my consternation,
   ‘Everyone is a liar.’

What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.

John 13: 1 - 17, 31b - 35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

MAUNDY THURSDAY - THE LAST SUPPER

GADDI, Agnolo - "The Last Supper" - c. 1395 - Tempera on wood
Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg

1 Cor 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

For several years I posted Dali's "The Sacrament of the Last Supper" on Maundy Thursday. I love the painting, but I wanted to go in a different direction this year. I chose Gaddi's painting shown above. I love the 14th century Italian version, too, with its lovely colors and gold leaf, and Jesus and his Apostles pressed together in the intimacy of the scene as painted by Gaddi.

Collect of the Day: Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

WENCHOSTER CALENDAR - APRIL

 

 

In her regular feature in the Pharisaios Journal, "The Word From Wormingdale", Canon Daphne Pullover reflects on the season:

Easters that fall after the start of British Summer Time give us lighter mornings in which to contemplate the encounter in the garden between a weeping woman and a stranger. It always reminds me of a walk I took one early morning across the meadows at the back of the village and adjacent to the river. The mist was rising and the usual path looked unfamiliar. As I came down to the old footbridge I sensed rather than saw a figure standing on it, but I still jumped with fright when it turned round and lifted its arms above its head. “Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed as I fell backwards on to the grass. The figure advanced towards me as I lay spread-eagled on the damp sod. I felt a warm flush as it reached out a gnarled hand towards me to help me up. “Morin’ Reverend,” said a familiar voice. “Did oi startle ‘ee?” Recognition was instant, and I gently cuffed Sam Pharlap round the ear. “What are you doing down here you old beggar?” I said. “You frightened me half out of my wits.” It turned out that Sam was engaged in his usual pursuit of pheasant boggling, an old Wenchostershire tradition dating back to the 16th century.

Down in the church the aisles are heavy with scent from the arum lilies, and the tower damp with the perspiration of the ringers. Warm spring breezes blow across the churchyard, stirring the small posies of flowers that people have laid on the graves of their loved ones. Homely Easter traditions – flowers and bells and remembrance and feasting. The Gospels speak of the same things – the women bringing scented spices and oils to the tomb, the feast of fish and honeycomb in the Upper Room, bread and wine at Emmaus, no doubt with flowers placed on the table by the innkeeper’s wife. In the vestry the choir practice their celebratory anthem, and I hear the steady clicking of the organist’s metronome atop the piano.

William Wordsworth’s wild daffodils spread themselves in the new churchyard grass and on the Village Green. Seagulls winging inland from the coast swoop and wheel low above the greening crops, ever looking for their Easter feast. I can see them still from my bedroom window. Such energy – the flying of miles for a small snack, so unlike human energy, exhausted after a day’s hike from Jerusalem to Emmaus – just one thing on their mind – refreshment, and then maybe more conversation with their odd companion. Then after the disappearance such renewed vigour in their hurrying back to the city. The Easter tales are all go, scurrying hither and thither, such tales to tell.

Low Sunday is always an anti-climax, but this year I shall be busy for there is to be a family reunion in Wenchoster. Second cousins I have not seen for decades will meet me in the Thorpe Hotel for lunch. Aunt Phoebe is coming all the way from Nantucket to be with us, and Aunt Geraldine is flying in from new Zealand. We will be a merry gathering, and as it is to take place in a respectable County hotel, we will, of course, be wearing hats.

Aunt Phoebe, my mother’s youngest sister, always reminds me of Aunt Ada Doom in Cold Comfort Farm, who took to her bed after seeing something nasty in the woodshed. Phoebe took to her bed for a year following the break-up of her marriage to Grigori Stanislaus. She had been warned about his predilection for vodka, but when she came home one evening to find him in bed with a goat it was all too much for her. Even now she cannot abide vodka. To my mother she was always the proverbial black sheep of the family. The following day I shall take them on a tour of the sights of Wenchostershire. We shall wander through the Gussetts and explore Balldrop Down.

I am always exhausted after the liturgical round of Holy Week and Easter, and I look forward to a few days off afterwards. There will be time to attend to the garden, recovering after the harsh winter. Kevin will turn up with his implements and together we will turn over the beds.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

 

 

In the merry month of May, I shall be visiting the Diocese of Wenchoster. Bishop Roderick Codpiecium invited me to be his guest, and I simply could not refuse his gracious invitation.