2 Faiths Herald a Holy Time : Easter: The bishop of Orange washes parishioners’ feet during a sacred ritual<i> .</i>

Carrying on a tradition that dates back to the earliest centuries of Christianity, priests washed the feet of parishioners and celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at services throughout the county Thursday night.

The rituals were part of Holy Week observances that continue today with Good Friday ceremonies and culminate on Easter Sunday. Jews, meanwhile begin their own week of religious observances with the advent of Passover at sundown today.

About 30 minutes into the Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange Thursday night, the Most Rev. Norman F. McFarland, bishop of Orange, removed his outer cloak, got down on his knees, and cleansed the feet of 12 parishioners who represented the congregation.

The parishioners, all men to symbolize the apostles, each removed one shoe and sock and waited as McFarland moved down the row, with a priest on either side of him carrying water in a jug or bowl. McFarland dipped a towel into the water, cleansed the foot of the man in front of him, then moved on.

Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, director of communications for the Diocese of Orange, said the foot-washing is “a sign of our solidarity, that we’re brothers and sisters in Christ, and also of the humility of Christ--that he should wash others’ feet.”

The ceremony is a reenactment of the New Testament account of Jesus’ washing of the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper. As told in Chapter 13 of the Book of John, Peter at first objected but then relented when Jesus told him that he must part with him if he refused.

“The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him,” Jesus is quoted as saying in the Bible.

The tradition is observed by the presiding celebrant at Holy Thursday Masses at Catholic churches, and at Maundy Thursday services at Episcopalian and other Anglican Christian churches.

The name Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin mandatum, or commandment. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the disciples a “New Commandment” that is a key tenet of the Christian faith: “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

“The washing of the feet exemplifies in a dramatic way the new commandment,” said Msgr. Arthur A. Holquin, rector of Holy Family Cathedral. “The origin of the service is to parallel the Gospel read that evening.”

At St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Fullerton, Father Richard C. Kennedy presided over not one but two foot-washing ceremonies that embodied the spirit of the New Commandment. The first was the more traditional observance--different from Holy Family Cathedral’s in that women were also selected--as part of the Holy Thursday Mass.

The second ceremony, which took place late Thursday night after the Mass, was a more participatory event. Instead of having a priest wash the feet of a dozen parishioners, groups of 25 to 30 people worshiped together and then washed each other’s feet.

The groups, called “neo-catechumenal” communities, are part of a worldwide movement of Catholics who, although already baptized, seek to reaffirm their commitment to their faith through years of reflective worship.

“It has more of a penitential flavor to it,” Father Kennedy said. “It’s a sign of reconciliation, and it’s very much a humbling experience.”