Mandatum / Foot-Washing on Maundy Thursday

A liturgical rite performed on Holy Thursday in which the presider washes and dries the feet of twelve (or more) persons, re-enacting Jesus's washing of the disciples' feet at the Last Supper (John 13) as a sign of servant leadership and mutual charity; accompanied by the chanted antiphon Mandatum novum do vobis ("A new commandment I give you"), from which both the rite and the English name "Maundy Thursday" derive. The rite spread through Carolingian monasticism and into the secular clergy across Western Europe. English monarchs performed it ceremonially as the "Royal Maundy" from at least 1210 (King John at Knaresborough). The practice was suppressed in many Reformed churches at the Reformation but retained in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions. Pope Francis's decree of January 2016 removed the restriction to men, opening the rite to all members of the People of God.