It is an unfortunate truth that the picturesque Maundy Thursday service celebrated today in Durham, in which the King distributes Maundy money to deserving individuals, is a watered down version of the original. It started out in abbeys and churches when clerics would wash each others’ feet in imitation of Christ washing the feet of the Apostles before the Last Supper. Bad King John adopted the tradition in 1210 by washing the feet of poor men and it was maintained by monarchs until about the Glorious Revolution of 1688 – James II was the last to do it properly – until it was finally replaced with the hygienic but not very moving ceremony of distributing money by George II.
If the King, who is terrifically keen on tradition, really wants to set a good example, then he will return to the custom of washing poor men’s feet, like the Pope still does. The catch is that the number of pairs of feet is meant to correspond with the monarch’s years, which would mean Charles getting down on his knees with a bowl of water before no fewer than 76 paupers. On the bright side, most people’s feet are nice and clean these days.
But there was another respect in which today’s Durham ceremony parted company with tradition, and that was the interfaith aspect. Charles went out of his way in his pre service address to pay tribute to Jews and Muslims as well as Christians, lest anyone take offence at the head of the Church of England being too exclusively Christian:
“On Maundy Thursday” he said:
Jesus knelt and washed the feet of many of those who would abandon Him.“His humble action was a token of His love that knew no bounds or boundaries and is central to Christian belief.
The love He showed when He walked the Earth reflected the Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need, a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, and in the hearts of all who seek the good of others.”
Well indeed; these two great monotheistic faiths certainly seek to care for others. But the point of Holy Thursday, as Catholics call it, is precisely to draw attention to the humility of Christ, who, though divine, treated his apostles as if he were their servant. And the point of that was to show them what he was about – “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” It wasn’t about the generic “ethic of caring”; it was about a very singular kind of kingship, which is expressed in washing feet. That action is specifically and literally Christian – though obviously, Christ was a Jew.
One can see how Charles can tie himself up in knots in his efforts to be all things to all communities – “defender of Faiths etc” – but you know what? I don’t honestly think that other religious communities would mind if Charles spoke as a Christian in his Maundy Thursday message. There are other occasions when he can be eirenic and inclusive, but the Holy Week ceremonies are a time for him to do the Christian things and speak Christian truths unapologetically. The late Queen had no compunction about it.
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