Great and Holy Thursday
Movable feast; in 2026 it falls on April 9.
Dates follow the calendar tradition used by this project. Parishes using the new calendar celebrate fixed feasts on different civil dates.
Great and Holy Thursday commemorates Christ’s Last Supper with His disciples and the betrayal of Judas. Its worship holds together the joy of Christ’s self-giving love and the sorrow of human betrayal.
Meaning of the day
This day of Holy Week centres on the Last Supper, Christ’s final meal with His disciples before His suffering. The Gospel says that Christ loved His own to the end. At the supper, He gives bread and the cup as His Body and Blood; the Church therefore recognises this event as the foundation of the Eucharist, the sacrament of Holy Communion. Yet the day also remembers Judas leaving to betray Him. The services place these realities side by side: Christ’s love, freely given, and the tragic turning away of a disciple.
Biblical background and worship
The Last Supper, Judas’ betrayal, and Christ’s arrest in the garden belong to the Gospel account. In the evening, Vespers is joined to the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. The service includes Old Testament readings, Saint Paul’s account of the Last Supper, and the year’s longest Gospel reading, drawn from all four Gospels and recounting the supper, betrayal, and arrest. The usual Cherubic Hymn and Communion hymn are replaced by words from the prayer before Communion that ask to receive the Mystical Supper faithfully rather than betray Christ. In cathedral churches, a Washing of Feet service may follow the Liturgy: a bishop washes the feet of twelve priests as a reminder that Christ-like love is the foundation of life in the Church. On this day, the primates of autocephalous Churches also consecrate Holy Chrism.
Spiritual meaning today
Great and Holy Thursday asks each person where love is directed. Human beings are made to love, but love can become distorted when it is detached from God and fixed on self-interest or passing things. Christ reveals another way: love expressed in communion, service, and the gift of Himself. The day invites careful preparation for Communion and sincere repentance, rather than a merely habitual presence at worship. It also teaches that Christian relationships are shaped by humble service, not by power. In the light of the Last Supper, believers are invited to answer Christ’s love with faithfulness.
In the Bible
Related reading
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Sources: Orthodox Church in America