What is Maundy Thursday all about?

The roots of the oddly-named Thursday before Easter come from Jesus’ command to love one another, as well as his foot-washing example, explains Karen Murdarasi

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, so you are to love one another” (John 13:34).

Strange as it may seem, these words, spoken by Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper, are the origin of the name ‘Maundy Thursday’. In the Vulgate translation of the Bible, the Latin for “a new commandment” was mandatum novum. This word entered Old French, where it became mandé, eventually giving us the English ‘maundy’.