Maundy derives from mandatum Latin for command as in mandate. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. Roughly translates the passage in John where Jesus is at meal before he died. The message is not so much in the words, great as they are, but in the liturgical action when the president of the eucharist washes the feet of some or all of those present. Kings of England did this until the reformation when the action got translated into money given to as many men and women as matches the age of the sovereign. Quite a lot today in York. Foot washing is rather more symbolically powerful.
NYC St Francis Xavier's the congregation wash the feet of those around them.
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