Maundy Thursday in Reading

Another wonderful Solemn Mass at which I had the privilege to sing. The ministers were the same as Palm Sunday. I took a lot of photos: here are a few. Notice the special care with which the altar is arranged, with flowers and (what I have not seen before) reliquaries. This adds to the contrast when the altar is stripped bare at the end of Mass.



You can see the rest of the photos on my Flickr set. At the time of posting this they are still uploading.

At the end of Mass there was the usual procession to the Altar of Repose, which was very beautifully arranged, the stripping of the (usual) Altar, and the special version of Compline for the day, in which the small schola and the ministers alternated.