Maundy Thursday refers to the episode when, during the Last Supper, Jesus Christ delivered His instructions (Latin: mandatum, meaning command) to his disciples. There are other names for this particular day in English, namely, Holy Thursday or Sheer Thursday.

In Maltese, this commemoration is known as Ħamis ix-Xirka, meaning the Thursday when the Apostles – xirka means a community and communion – met to partake their Last Supper with Jesus Christ.

On Maundy Thursday, a traditional liturgical ceremony is held in all the parishes of Malta and Gozo. During this ceremony, the parish priest symboli­cally washes the feet of 12 persons seated on the presbytery in order to emulate the washing of the feet of Christ’s 12 apostles during the Last Supper.

The ceremony also includes the blessing of the holy oils that are to be used in the forthcoming liturgical year.

Shortly after the end of the ceremony, thousands of people carry out the traditional ‘seven visits’ (Maltese: is-seba’ viżti). People throng the churches to pay homage to the Holy Eucharist, which, during the evening ceremony, would have been transferred from the main altar to a chapel where an ‘altar of repose’ is set up for the occasion.

This altar was formerly popularly called the ‘sepulchre’. The latter appellation is no longer used, to indicate that the altar of repose is not a tomb but the living presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The occasion serves as a ‘pilgrimage’ during which prayers are said in front of the altar of repose that is ornately decorated with lilies and vetch plants and brightly illuminated. For many, the beautiful set-up inside the chapel serves to feast the eyes and to appreciate the artistic works by volunteers on the decoration. Right in the middle of the altar of this chapel, a very ornate monstrance throne (Maltese: ġirandola) contains the Holy Eucharist for worship.

This is a night when the faithful may visit seven different altars of repose in seven different churches to pray and meditate about the Passion of Christ. Since the streets and churches are generally crowded, some opt to visit the churches on Friday morning, Good Friday.

A set of prayers is recited during each visit. These include the Gloria Pater, the Ave Maria and Our Father. After the prayers, pilgrims walk to the next church in the same town or village. It is customary to recite the rosary or other prayers on the way.

Where a town or village does not have seven churches or chapels open for the occasion, the faithful adapt their visits accordingly. If the parish church is the only one in the locality that has an altar of repose, the devotees exit the church onto the parvis and return to resume the ritual until the seventh visit.

Visits are either conducted on an individual basis – families or friends – or in large groups assembled by the confraternities of the locality. At the head of each confraternity or group is a leading member who carries a crucifix whose horizontal bar is crossed by a small spear and a rod with a sponge at the tip, symbols of the suffering and humiliation Christ endured on the cross.

Origin of the seven visits

The ‘seven visits’ is a ritual that originated in Rome in the 16th century. It is believed it was St Filippo Neri who started this tradition in 1553, when, on Good Friday, he urged his friends to accompany him to pay homage to the seven most important churches in the Eternal City. The visits soon became popular and the custom spread to other countries, including Malta.

Visits to the seven altars of repose are also carried out in certain Latin American countries as well as in the Philippines, where this tradition is called Las Visita Iglesia. The Maronites in the Holy Land uphold the same custom by visiting the seven churches of Jerusalem. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII granted ‘grace’ (Maltese: indulġenza) to members of confraternities who carried out such visits.

Why seven visits?

No obligation is set by the Catholic Church for the faithful to carry out the seven visits to the altar of repose on Maundy Thursday. It is even less obligatory to carry out the visit seven times.

The main purpose of the ritual, walking from church to church, is for the devotees to symbolically ‘walk along Christ’ throughout the seven stages of his Passion, which started from the Garden of Gethsemane all the way to the Mount of Golgotha (Calvary).

Neither is there an obligatory set of seven visits. Indeed, in some localities in Malta, people are accustomed to make five, or eight, as at the village of Xagħra, Gozo.

In Christianity, the number seven has many connotations with both the Old and New Testaments. The number reminds us of the book of Genesis, in which we read that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. The number seven, thus, suggests finality and completeness. The psalms are seven in number: 32, 102, 51, 6, 38, 130 and 143.

The number seven is also associated with the ‘seven sorrows’ (Maltese: Is-seba’ duluri/stalletti) of Our Lady as prophesied by Simeone (Luke 2.35), who foretold that: i) the Holy Virgin would experience great anguish because of her son; ii) the flight into Egypt; iii) the temporary loss of her son Jesus while visiting Jerusalem; iv) her encounter with Jesus as He was carrying the cross to Golgotha; v) his crucifixion; vi) the moment when she received the corpse of her son following his crucifixion; vii) his burial.

In the Christian catechism, the number seven is also related to the seven sacraments, and the seven virtues that atone for sins: charity, chastity, faith, abstinence, patience, humility and courage.

An aspect of Maltese folklore is also linked to the number seven. On the Friday commemorating Our Lady of Sorrows (Maltese: Id-Duluri), one week prior to Good Friday, it was a custom for girls to go around from house to house begging for seven morsels of bread (Maltese: is-seba’ bukkuni) from their neighbours.

Meditation during the seven visits

During each of the seven visits to the altars of repose, the faithful meditate on the stages of pain endured by Christ:

• His journey from the place where the Last Supper was held to the Garden of Gethsemane where He sweated blood.

• The journey from the Garden of Gethsemane to the high priest, Annas.

• The journey from Annas to the high priest, Caiphas, where He was mocked along the night.

• The first visit to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, where He was accused by the Jews of claiming He was their king.

• The meeting with Herod where He was mocked and humiliated.

• The second visit to Pontius Pilate, where a crown of thorns was placed on his head and He was subsequently sentenced to death.

• The journey from the palace of Pontius Pilate to Calvary, while carrying the cross.

• The last visit also includes meditation on the descent from the cross and his burial.