Ix-Xirka
Ħamis
ix-Xirka’ – ‘Community Thursday’, inferring the Thursday when the apostles and Jesus Christ met for the Last Supper.
It is ‘holy’ – ‘
santo’ – because, on this day, Jesus established the Holy Eucharist: he blessed the bread and wine and asked his friends to eat and drink with him. Moreover, he invited them to keep repeating the occasion in memory of him.
The altar of repose at St George’s Basilica, Victoria. Photo: Joe Zammit Ciantar
In English, this special Thursday in the middle of the Holy Week is also referred to as ‘Maundy Thursday’, which may be more appropriate. The word ‘maundy’ is derived from an Anglo-French word derived from Latin ‘