The Catholic Church all over the world observes Paschal Triduum or Holy Triduum ̶ a period of three days during which we recall the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday and ends with the Easter Vigil on Saturday. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are days of memorial and celebration of the climactic moments of Jesus’ final earthly journey.
The Maundy Thursday initiates the Holy Triduum - the day on which the Church commemorates the institution of three pillars of the Catholic faith: Commandment of Love, Institution of Priesthood and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. Referred to as Nimanno Brestar in Konkani, the day commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus together with his twelve apostles before his crucifixion. On this day Jesus was betrayed by His Apostle Judas Iscariot, and was imprisoned by the Romans. The day before the Passover Festival when Jesus and his disciples were at supper, he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dried them with the towel.
Parishes all over Goa, start the service with a High Mass in the evening on Maundy Thursday. It is divided into three parts- the liturgy (the Word of God - readings from the bible), the washing of the feet of twelve parishioners by the priest, and the Holy Eucharist. Every year, each Church chooses twelve faithful from the congregation to have their feet washed as a symbolic enactment of Christ’ washing the feet of his twelve apostles. Through this act, Jesus is summing up a life of service to God - "Abba" and to God’s people. By this lowly act of service usually performed by a slave, the Catholic community is reminded to love one another (the Commandment of Love) and the need to stay humble. The famous fresco of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which depicts Jesus and his disciples along one side of a long table, is probably the best-known representation of the Last Supper painted in the late 14th century.
Since the day also marks the institution of the priesthood, the faithful are urged to pray for the priests and display affection towards them, so that priests may always be shepherds according to God’s heart. The sacrifices made by the priests by leaving their family aside as well as their services to the community are generally taken for granted by the parishioners. They tend to comment on the nature and duration of their sermons and are quick to find all possible faults in priests, ignoring the fact that they are also human and prone to challenges and difficulties.
What Jesus did at the table is emblematic of what he has been doing all along as he walked with his disciples. Through the institution of the Eucharist, Jesus does not only share bread and wine with them; through these gifts, he offers His very self to them to be their nourishment, their ongoing strength. Whenever they celebrate this meal, as often as they do this in memory of Him, they will again experience His personal gift of self in their midst. As people of the Eucharist, we are privileged to receive Christ’s gift of self to us “ the greatest God’s gift we could ever receive on this earth. We are blessed to experience real communion with Jesus, a genuine sharing of presence that is the heart of this wonderful sacrament.
After the main service is over the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for the veneration of the faithful. The Blessed Sacrament sheltered by a pal is taken in a procession by members of the confraternity (Confrads) within the precincts of the church. Time slots are allocated to different village wards to venerate. They offer penitence and prayers before the adoration from 8 pm till midnight. The last one hour of adoration from 11 pm to midnight is generally for all the wards. During the adoration, the Confrads adorned with opa and murça pay obeisance to the Blessed Sacrament with essence.
