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CHAPTER XL
Holy Thursday. Evening Office,
There are no solemnities observed at the Vespers
which immediately follow the morning Office. A simple
recitation in place of the chant is used for the Psalms.
In this way the Church shows her profound grief at the
loss of her Spouse.
After Vespers the ALTARS ARE STRIPPED and the
candles extinguished. After the antiphon Diviserunt
has been intoned, the choir recites Psalm xxi. :
Deus, Deus meus, respice in me, and the celebrant,
assisted by his ministers, removes the altar cloths,
and the coverings from the altar. The momen
tary interruption of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
and the state of nakedness to which our Lord was
reduced on the Cross when the executioners divided
His garments, are thereby typified.
In cathedral churches and large parishes the ceremony
of washing the feet is carried out ; which is also a mo
nastic custom. In order to revive a custom of the early
ages, the Bishop, Superior, or parish priest, washes the
feet of twelve or thirteen poor men in remembrance of
our Lord s act at the last Supper. The number, twelve,
reminds us of the apostles. Thirteen is the number
usually chosen, and various reasons are given. Some
say that it represents the actual number of the
apostles after our Lord s Ascension, their number,
which had been reduced by the fall of Judas to