Maundy Thursday

Taize Communion Service

As we gather for Holy Communion this Maundy Thursday, we are drawing on some of the strands of a Taize worship service, in particular meditative sung prayer and a time of silence. These have been woven together with the Anglican liturgy and a reflection on the reading for Maundy Thursday

Songs: Bonum est Confidere

Translation of Lyrics: It is good to trust in the Lord and good to hope in the Lord

Wait for the Lord

Lyrics: Wait for the Lord, his day is near,

Wait for the Lord, be strong take heart.

Prayer of Confession

Our Lord Jesus Christ says: ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’ ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part in me,’ Let us confess to almighty God our sins against his love and ask him to cleanse us.

Lord God

We have sinned against you

We have done evil in your sight

We are sorry and repent

Have mercy on us according to your love

Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

Renew a right spirit within us

And restore us to the joy of your salvation,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

May God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son to be our Saviour

Forgive us our sins

And make us holy to serve him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Reading: John 13:1-17, 31b-35

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’

⁷ Jesus replied, ‘You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’

⁸ ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’

Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’

⁹ ‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’

¹⁰ Jesus answered, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.’ ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ¹³ ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord”, and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him,^c]">[c] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

³³ ‘My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

Song: De Noche

Translation of Lyrics: By night we hasten in darkness, to search for living water, only our thirst leads us onward, only our thirst leads us onward

Reflection

See other notes:

Silent Prayer

‘Often God’s voice comes in a whisper, in a breath of silence, remaining in silence in God’s presence, open to the Spirit, is already prayer. It is not a matter of trying to obtain inner silence at all costs by following some method that creates a kind of emptiness within. The important thing is a childlike attitude of trust by which we allow Christ to pray within us silently…’,

Song: Our Father

Lyrics: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.  Keep us from temptation, and deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Communion Prayer:

The Lord is here.

His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.

All   We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

All   It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all,

your face is turned towards your world.

In love you gave us Jesus your Son

to rescue us from sin and death.

Your Word goes out to call us home

to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

All   Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Father of all, we give you thanks for every gift that comes from heaven.

To the darkness Jesus came as your light.

With signs of faith and words of hope

he touched untouchables with love and washed the guilty clean.

This is his story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

The crowds came out to see your Son,

yet at the end they turned on him.

On the night he was betrayed

he came to table with his friends

to celebrate the freedom of your people.

This is his story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Jesus blessed you, Father, for the food;

he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said:

This is my body, given for you all.

Jesus then gave thanks for the wine;

he took the cup, gave it and said:

This is my blood, shed for you all

for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this in remembrance of me.

This is our story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Therefore, Father, with this bread and this cup

we celebrate the cross

on which he died to set us free.

Defying death he rose again

and is alive with you to plead for us and all the world.

This is our story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Send your Spirit on us now

that by these gifts we may feed on Christ

with opened eyes and hearts on fire.

May we and all who share this food

offer ourselves to live for you

and be welcomed at your feast in heaven

where all creation worships you,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

All   Blessing and honour and glory and power

be yours for ever and ever.

Amen.

We break this bread

to share in the body of Christ.

All   Though we are many, we are one body,

because we all share in one bread.

Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world.

Blessed are those who are called to his supper.

All   Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,

but only say the word, and I shall be healed.

Songs during Communion: ‘Let All Who Are Thirsty Come’ & ‘Frieden, Frieden’

Lyrics: Let All Who Are Thirsty Come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely. Amen, come Lord Jesus. Amen, come Lord Jesus.

Translation of Lyrics: My Peace I leave, my peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled)

After Communion

Fill us, good Lord, with your Spirit of love;

and as you have fed us with the one bread of heaven,

so make us one in heart and mind,

in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Song: Iedere Nacht Verlang

Translation: My soul yearns for you in the night. My spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

Please feel free to leave in your own time.

Copyright:

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.

The song texts reproduced here are copyright © Ateliers et Presses de Taizé, 71250 Taizé, France.