Maundy Thursday: 5 Things You Should Know

By Brandon Showalter, Opinion writer and social commentator Twitter

All-Night Vigils

Some churches will host all night vigils following the stripping of the altar to remember Christ's time in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Women attend a mass inside a church to celebrate Easter in the southern Indian city of Chennai March 31, 2013. 
Women attend a mass inside a church to celebrate Easter in the southern Indian city of Chennai March 31, 2013.  | (Photo: Reuters/Babu)

Specifically, the basis for an all-night prayer is in obedience to Jesus asking His disciples in Mathew 26:41: "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"

For centuries in Rome, Christian pilgrims have walked to seven or more churches on Maundy Thursday to visit and pray before a consecrated Eucharist at what is known as an "altar of repose." Mass of the Lord's Supper are preserved for use on the following day, Good Friday.

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Follow Brandon Showalter on Facebook: BrandonMarkShowalter Follow Brandon Showalter on Twitter: @BrandonMShow

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