Maundy Thursday: 5 Things You Should Know

By Brandon Showalter, Opinion writer and social commentator Thursday, March 29, 2018

The Stripping of the Altar

Churches will also mark Maundy Thursday by stripping the altar after Communion is served, removing its vestments in preparation for Good Friday. This takes place at the conclusion of a Maundy Thursday service.

The grave of William Shakespeare near the altar inside Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Stratford upon Avon, England Thursday Jan 11, 2007. | (Photo: AP / Alastair Grant)

The Stripping of the Altar takes place not only after Roman Catholic masses on this day but also in many Anglican and Lutheran churches around the world.

The site Living Lutheran notes that the bare altar "symbolizes the abandonment of Jesus by his disciples and the stripping of Jesus by the soldiers before his crucifixion. It represents the humiliation of Jesus and the consequences of sin as a preparation for the celebration of new life."

Writing in The Christian Century in 2012, Richard Lischer observed; "When everything is removed, what is left is nude and vulnerable, not as imposing as one might expect."

"It seems almost a shame to see the altar that way, and so when the women are finished undressing it someone turns out the lights, and the congregation files out in silence."