Easter Week Maundy Thursday in the age of Corvid-19

Thursday in the Christian calendar of Easter week, Maundy Thursday is celebrated, and is always on Queen Elizabeth's calendar....

except this year. Due to the coronavirus, or corvid-19 and social distancing, especially for the soon-to-be 94 year old Queen, has cancelled the annual tradition...

 Getty photos

this year accompanied by Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew, this year at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

 Part of the tradition is handing our pouches of coins to pensioners... one man and woman for each year of the Queen's age.

In 2019, 93 men and 93 women...
In 2020 it would have been 94... unless it will still be gifted without the usual ceremony, and so sad for those who would have otherwise been able to meet the Queen...

The money in the White Purse includes 1, 2, 3 and 4 silver penny pieces, the sum equals the number of years of the Monarch’s age.

The red purse contains a 5 pound coin minted to commemorative the 200th birthday of Queen Victoria, and amusingly a 50p coins commemorating Sherlock Holmes... :)

 This year the purse will equal 93p as Her Majesty turns 93 on Sunday!

Maundy Thursday, the fifth day of Holy Week is in remembrance of the sharing of the Last Supper with his disciples before Christ's death on Good Friday.

The origins of the ceremony come from the commandment Christ gave after washing his disciples' feet, where according to the Bible, he told them to "love one another as I have loved you".

Historically, it has involved handing out food and clothing and cleaning the poor.

Ever since coming to the throne in 1952 the Queen has carried out 

the tradition. 

2012 in York...

 2017 in Leicester

Hopefully, we will see her back to the usual commemoration in 2021.

On Sunday, April 5th the Queen made a rare address about the virus...
which you can view on the bbc website at this link:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52176222

 

Easter Week... Maundy Thursday

Today in the Christian calendar, Maundy Thursday in celebrated, and is always on Queen Elizabeth's calendar....

 Getty photos

this year accompanied by Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew, this year at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

 Part of the tradition is handing our pouches of coins to pensioners... one man and woman for each year of the Queen's age.

This year therefore, 93 men and 93 women...

The money in the White Purse includes 1, 2, 3 and 4 silver penny pieces, the sum equals the number of years of the Monarch’s age.

The red purse contains a 5 pound coin minted to commemorative the 200th birthday of Queen Victoria, and amusingly a 50p coins commemorating Sherlock Holmes... :)

 This year the purse will equal 93p as Her Majesty turns 93 on Sunday!

Maundy Thursday, the fifth day of Holy Week is in remembrance of the sharing of the Last Supper with his disciples before Christ's death on Good Friday.

The origins of the ceremony come from the commandment Christ gave after washing his disciples' feet, where according to the Bible, he told them to "love one another as I have loved you".

Historically, it has involved handing out food and clothing and cleaning the poor.

Ever since coming to the throne in 1952 the Queen has carried out 

the tradition.

Maundy Thursday... Tradition Continues After 600 Years

Dating back to around 600 AD, the ancient tradition of the British monarch as head of the Church Of England distributing gifts on Maundy Thursday continued today, Thursday April 13th.

 Queen Elizabeth travelled to Leicester Cathedral...Yay! Where my family is from...to give gifts of specially minted coins called Maundy Money to 91 men and 91 women...traditional pensioners who are chosen by the cathedral for their good character and good works.  The count always coincides to the years of age of the monarch...in this case Queen Elizabeth turning 91.

 The coins are presented to each recipient in a leather purse. The ancient tradition was derived from giving alms just before Easter as a demonstration of the humility of Christ, the monarch and desire to help the poor, although now it is ceremonial. But to a Christian like Queen Elizabeth, a privilege and a meaningful tradition.

 All the photos here are from various of the Monarchy's social media sites. This is from Twitter showing the Royal Standard above Leicester Cathedral. My grandmother Emma was baptized there in 1881.

Long Live the Queen!

Thursday Tea Things And Talk, Shelley Teacup, Queen Elizabeth In York, Maundy Thursday

Welcome to Thursday Tea Things and Talk. I am joining Teacup Thursday with Miss Spenser and Vintage Thingie Thursday with Coloradolady. Today I want to share several things. It is Maundy Thursday, the day in the Christian calendar that commemorates the Last Supper.

 In honor of the color of Queen Elizabeth's hat in the photo below, I have a Shelley teacup with an aqua feather design. 

The pattern is called Serenity and was made by Shelley between 1940-1966 when the pottery closed and has platinum trim. The shape is Gainsborough, which is a favorite shape. So elegant!

Maundy Thursday has been traditionally celebrated in the UK by royalty giving our Maundy Money to deserving poor. This year Queen Elizabeth II was in York with Prince Philip and Princess Beatrice (she of the pretzel hat at her cousin Prince William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton almost a year ago) for the ceremony. The visit was also part of Queen Elizabeth;s Diamond Jubilee trips around the UK.

Beatrice, who is the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is 5th in line for the throne.

In the royal Maundy money tradition dates to medieval times and originally had the monarch or a representative washing the feet of the poor. King George V changed the custom to the current one of the reigning monarch presenting red leather bags (or cases) of money to worthy elderly recipients...one male and female for every year of the monarch's life, so this year there were 86 men and 86 women. Normally the ceremony is done in London, but as Queen Elizabeth was in York on her Diamond Jubilee visit it was done there.

York minster from a 2005 visit

Below is a link to a video of giving the Maundy money and other photos of the York visit from the Daily Mail. Click on the Daily Mail name to go to the article and video or click this link to the video:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2125538/The-Queen-Bea-Royals-hand-money-pensioners-York-mark-Maundy-Thursday.html

I hope your preparations for Easter are going well. I want to also wish our Jewish friends a Pesach Shalom.