👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽A Holy Teaching on #Semune #Hemamat _ #Thursday The Day of #Washing #Feet ( #Hezbet #Egri )
Beloved brethren in Christ, sons and daughters of the Light, let us raise our minds and hearts to the ineffable mysteries of God, and ponder with reverence the holy and awe-inspiring significance of the Thursday before our Lord's Passion and Resurrection. It is a day bathed in spiritual meaning, adorned with divine mysteries, and crowned with the beginning of our salvation’s final manifestation. This day called by many sacred names in our Orthodox tradition is a fountain of heavenly teaching for those who seek truth in the footsteps of the Lord.
Let us therefore contemplate, with trembling joy and holy awe, the Mystery of Prayer Thursday, known also as Hezbete Leg, Holy Thursday, Mystery Day, New Testament Thursday, Liberation Thursday, and Maundy Thursday.
I. The Day of Washing Feet (Hezbet Egri)
This name, meaning “The People's Foot,” is not poetic metaphor but a tangible icon of divine humility. On this day, our Lord, the King of Kings, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, stooped low lower than angels, lower than men, lower than the dust to wash the feet of His disciples. He, whose throne is encircled by seraphim, took water and a towel and wiped the dust from human feet. O mystery of mercy! O depth of humility unfathomable!
“He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself… and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” (John 13:4-5)
This was not a mere ritual. It was a divine proclamation: He came to wash away not dust but sin, to cleanse not feet alone but souls. Our Church commemorates this by having the bishops and priests wash the feet of the faithful using wine and olive leaves, symbols of purification and anointing. And as they do so, they cry out with the Spirit of John the Baptist: “Come among us, and wash away our sins and the sins of the people.”
II. Holy Thursday – The Day of Agony in Gethsemane
On this day, our Savior, having washed His disciples, turned to His Father with prayers drenched in blood and sorrow. The garden of Gethsemane became the sanctuary of divine agony. He who knew no sin bore the weight of the world’s sin and poured out His soul before the Father.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane… and said, ‘Sit here while I go and pray.’” (Matthew 26:36)
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.” (John 17:1)
His prayer was not the cry of defeat, but the whisper of victory wrapped in pain. He knew the betrayal would come, and He faced it not with sword, but supplication.
III. The Day of the Mystery – The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
Among the seven holy mysteries of the Church, the divine Eucharist shines brightest on this day. In the Upper Room, He took bread and said:
“Take, eat; this is My body, broken for you.”
“Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, poured out for you.”
Here He instituted the Divine Liturgy. Here He invited mankind to union with divinity. He hid the path from His enemies, yet revealed it to His own: “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
On this day, the Mass is celebrated in solemnity and slowness. The censer rises not with triumph, but with the sorrow of approaching betrayal. The Church, in hushed tones, reflects the night when Judas betrayed the Lord, when soldiers approached with muffled voices to seize the Prince of Peace.
Confession is not made this day but the Eucharist is offered, not as mere ritual, but as a renewal of the eternal covenant. Every Christian is called to prepare with trembling heart, washed in repentance, to receive the Living Bread and the Precious Cup.
Continues 👇🏽