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SOLEMN MASS OF HOLY THURSDAY

Introit (Saint Paul to the Galatians 6, 14)

For us, we must glorify ourselves in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is our salvation, our life and our resurrection, through Whom we have been saved and delivered.  — (Ps. 66:2). May God be favorable to us and bless us; may He make His face to shine upon us and be propitious to us. Gloria Patri… 

We sing the Gloria; the bells are rung. From that moment on, all ringing in the churches is suspended until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil Mass.

Oremus. — O God, from Whom Judas received the punishment for his crime and the thief the reward for his faith, grant us the blessings of Your mercy: may our Lord Jesus Christ, Who in His Passion treated both of them according to their merits, destroy in us likewise the wanderings of the old man and give us the grace to share in His resurrection. He who, being God, lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

R/. Amen.

Epistle (Saint Paul to the Corinthians I 11:20-32)

Reading of the Epistle of the Blessed Apostle Paul to the Corinthians.
Brothers, when you gather together, it is not eating the Lord’s Supper that you are doing. Each one hastens to take apart what he has, and one is hungry while the other makes excesses. Do you not have your houses to eat and drink in? or do you despise the Church of God and want to shame those who have nothing? What will I tell you? Will I praise you? No, I will not praise you on this point. For I have learned from the Lord what I have handed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the very night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take and eat, this is My Body, which shall be betrayed to you; do this in remembrance of Me”. He took the chalice also, after the meal, saying, “This chalice is the new covenant in My Blood; do this in remembrance of Me as often as you drink it.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you shall proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the chalice of the Lord unworthily shall answer for the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man therefore test himself and then eat this bread and drink this chalice. For he that eats and drinks it unworthily, eats and drinks his own condemnation, not making the discernment he ought to make of the Body of the Lord. For this reason there are many among you who are infirm and sick, and many who die. If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But judged by the Lord, we are punished so that we are not condemned with the world.

R/. Thanks be to God.

Gradual (Saint Paul to the Philippians 2:8-9)

Christ became obedient for us unto death, and death from the cross.

V/. That is why God exalted Him, and gave Him a Name that is above every name.

Charity, said the Epistle, is the indispensable condition for communion. Charity, says the Gospel, is also the main fruit of the Eucharist; therefore, after having instituted it, Jesus inculcates to His Disciples this great duty of charity, in a symbolic gesture where He lowers Himself before them to wash their feet.

Gospel (Saint John 13:1-15)

V/. Dóminus vobíscum.
R/. Et cum spíritu tuo.

V/. †Sequentia sancti Evangélii secúndum Joánnem.
R/. Glória tibi, Dómine.

Before the feast of Passover, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to His Father, Jesus, who had loved His own who were in the world, gave them one last mark of His love. During the supper, when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, the plan to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come out of God and was returning to God, rose from the table, laid down His clothes, and taking a towel He girded Himself. Then, pouring water into a basin, He began to wash the feet of His Disciples and wipe them with the towel He had girded Himself with. He came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, “Lord, You wash my feet!” Jesus said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus said to him, “If I do not wash your feet, you will have nothing to share with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He that has bathed has need only to wash his feet, for he is clean throughout. And you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who was to betray Him, and therefore He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet and taken off His clothes, He sat down again at the table and said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Master and Lord, and you are right, for I am. If then I have washed your feet, I, the Lord and the Master, you also must wash one another’s feet, for I have given you an example, so that what I have done to you, you may also do it to others.

R/. Praise be to Thee, O Christ.