Posted by:
caffiend
(
)
Date: March 31, 2024 11:42PM
This was thoughtfully answered a few years ago, so please indulge me for bringing up, again, the matter of "Maundy Thursday." It's been a while, and something that piques my interest.
"Maundy Thursday" is the Thursday night preceding the Crucifixion (Good Friday), when Christ conducted the Last Supper, his time of prayer in Gethsemane, His betrayal, arrest, trial, and sentencing. It is my understanding that traditionally, LDS placed very significant spiritual import to the Gethsemane episode. My questions:
1) Does LDS spiritual practice use, or used, the term "Maundy" Thursday?
2) Do, or did, LDS endow the Gethsemane event with important theological, liturgical, or other types of spiritual significance?
3) If so, was this done at the denominational or ward level?
4) How was this observed?
5) If they did, does this continue nowadays? And if so, can you provide any details regarding when and how this was diminished or discontinued?
I have attended Maundy Thursday services, which are quite moving. They include Scripture reading, meditations and prayers, congregational recitations, hymns and choral/ensemble music from different sources and centuries, culminating in the "darkening of the Church," with candles being extinguished, lights gradually dimmed, clergy divesting themselves of clerical robes, and black shrouds placed over the communion table, the pulpit, and the congregational Bible (etc.).