Now that we are seeing banners on the lawn in front of MFMC buildings for Easter services - what is next?

Will votive Candles becomeo then next big thing so other churches will think Mormons are now normal?

Will MFMC do this so they can make a killing on selling "Officially Licensed" candles and matches to light them?

Maybe next year we will see Prophet Licensed ASH made from the burnt wheels of Mountain Meadows so members can do the ash on the forehead for Ash Wednesday?

Just wait for Nellie, Dallin and & cry'nEyring to appear at a Tent Revival near you!

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.).

Yes. Maudlin. I don't want to think about crucifixion. It's so ghastly. I can understand believers focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus but not the details of the dying part.

As for people these days who "celebrate" Easter by getting themselves crucified, EEK, YOW, WHAT????????????????

From New York Post, April 2023:

"After a three-year hiatus due to COVID, a controversial Good Friday tradition has been resurrected.

"Eight people were willingly nailed to crosses in the Philippines to commemorate Christ’s suffering as part of a lurid custom that’s been banned by the Catholic church, as seen in videos dropping jaws online.

“I always feel nervous because I could end up dead on the cross,” 62-year-old participant Ruben Enaje told the Guardian while describing getting crucified."

-----

"Nervous"? "Nervous"? I'd be a bit more freaked out than just merely nervous about nails and flesh and crosses.

I couldn't imagine being quite that zealous.

Maybe they were secretly thrilled about COVID as it gave them an excuse to skip a year or two.

My excuse, if I need one, would be it's beyond the pale. Completely bonkers, to be scientific about it.

I'm not an expert, caffiend, but here are a few answers from LDS.org:



caffiend Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "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:

I don't know about their emphasis, if any, on Gethsemane.

Here's what their web site says:

"Latter-day Saints conduct Easter Sunday services but do not follow the religious observances of Ash Wednesday, Lent, or Holy Week."


> 1) Does LDS spiritual practice use, or used, the
> term "Maundy" Thursday?

No, I don't think so.


> 2) Do, or did, LDS endow the Gethsemane event with
> important theological, liturgical, or other types
> of spiritual significance?

My impression is that they do not, not the way mainstream Christians do.


LDS site:

"Latter-day Saint Easter services traditionally review New Testament and Book of Mormon accounts of Christ’s crucifixion, His Resurrection, and surrounding events. For these services, chapels are often decorated with white lilies and other symbols of life. Ward choirs frequently present Easter cantatas, and congregations sing Easter hymns. As at services on other Sundays, the emblems of the sacrament are passed to the congregation.

"Some Latter-day Saint families include Easter bunnies and eggs in their family festivities for the delight of children. Such traditions are not officially discouraged, though they have no religious significance to Latter-day Saints. The focus of the holiday is religious. For Latter-day Saints, Easter is a celebration of the promise of eternal life through Christ."

-----

I can't remember attending a Mormon meeting at Easter time. I have imagined though that it's pretty much the same as all their other meetings. Low key. No professional speakers or performers. But, thankfully, no guys writhing on crosses either.

How much would you pay for a 4" tall cross made out of specially compressed Utah cricket 'remains' with a beautiful and tasteful gold necklace, both blessed by the First Presidency?

What if you could get it for half-price if you can pass a temple recommend interview?



I heard a story while on my mission about a faithful ward in Argentina, during WWII.  I can't say that I recall the exact point of the story...

WWII cut off any and all communication between the Saints in Utah, specifically church headquarters, and the faithful Saints in this apocryphal ward in Argentina.  When the war ended, things were still so out of kilter that it wasn't until late 1946 that a GA was able to visit the ward.  So at least five years had passed with no communication between this ward and SLC.

When a GA finally got there, on a Thursday afternoon, he was warmly received by the bishop and royally treated by the Relief Society leaders.  Everyone was so happy!

Then came Sunday...  The SLC GA is stunned when, at Sacrament meeting, the deacons are dressed in smocks and long skirts, the teachers have matching apparel and are standing in the aisles, waving smoking vessels on almost floor-length chains and the Priests are on the stand wearing elaborate lacy vails over their heads...

The point of the story, as I understood it, was that without the divine guidance of a dedicated directorate, all the little people in the religion would go nuts trying to prove who is holier than thou.

In the story, it all started when the Relief Society president told the bishop that the RS would like to supply a more fitting cover for the priests to fold and then unfold over the sacrament trays, because the current one was just so plain...



I am reminded that the church likes surveys...  Why not just let the membership vote?

Why not decide Presidential elections by a show of hands?