maundy thursday?

In the Christian liturgical calendar, Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday) is the holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Disciples.

On this day four events are commemorated:

• the washing of the Disciples' feet by Jesus Christ
• the institution of Communion at the Last Supper
• the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
• the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot
  

The celebration of these events marks the beginning of what is called the Easter Triduum (or Sacred Triduum). The Latin word triduum means a three-day period, and the triduum here is the three days from the death to the resurrection of Jesus.

For Jesus and his followers, a day ended and a new day began at sunset, which is still the case in the modern Jewish calendar. The Last Supper was held at what most consider to be the evening of Thursday but what was then considered to be the first hours of Friday. The annual commemoration of Maundy Thursday thus begins the Easter Triduum of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Collectively, these days of special devotion celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, which are the central events of biblical Christianity.

So there ya have it...