Archbishop in Holy Week

Archbishop presiding over Holy Eucharist

Renewal of Vows and Blessing of the Oils

In his role as Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, Dr Williams led Chrism Eucharist held in the Cathedral on the morning of Maundy Thursday. This annual observance sees the renewal of the ordination vows of the authorised ministers of the diocese and the blessing of holy oils used by the church the rest of the year.

The service includes lay and ordained ministers of the Diocese of Canterbury renewing the vows they made at their ordination, commissioning or licensing, and affirming their commitment to their particular ministries in the life of the Church.

Archbishop blessing the Oil of Chrism

The service also included the blessing of oils; in the course of Christian history oils blessed for the purpose have come to be used in many ways for the setting apart of people and things for a special place in the life of the Church, for Bishops and priests at their ordination, for Kings and Queens at their crowning, and for churches and altars at their consecration. During the service Dr Williams blessed three oils – the oil of catechumens, used to anoint those at baptism; the oil of Chrism, sometimes used at ordinations, for consecration or those making a profession of faith and the oil for the anointing of the sick and those close to death. The oils were then distributed to the attending ministers to take back to use in their parishes. 

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Read the Blessing of the Oils [30kb]

Eucharist and Vigil

In the evening the Passiontide observances continued with the traditional Maundy Thursday Eucharist with the washing of feet and the ritual stripping of the altar.

Archbishop Washing the Feet of the Congregation

The washing of feet is a ritual which follows the example of Christ, who washed the feet of the twelve disciples at the Lord's Supper. The ceremony, reintroduced to Canterbury Cathedral by Dr Williams in 2003 after an absence of 400 years, is a re-enactment of what Jesus did and a response to his commandment to love one another; the new Commandment or Mandatum Nuvum, from which Maundy Thursday takes its name. It reminds Christians of their obligation to serve others.  Dr Williams, assisted by the Dean, the Very Reverend Robert Willis, washed and dried the feet of 12 members of the congregation.

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At the end of the service, the Archbishop carried the Blessed Sacrament in procession with the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral to the Altar of Repose in the cathedral's undercroft to observe a vigil until midnight.

Above, whilst the choir sang Psalm 22, the Cathedral servers stripped the altar of the decorative altar cloths – a symbolic gesture reminding the congregation of how on his arrest, Christ was stripped of his garments. Like parishes churches up and down the country, the Cathedral was emptied of all ornament in silence and without ceremony, leaving the building in a sombre and reflective mood appropriate for the Passiontide observances of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The service concluded with the Dean reading the Gethsemane narrative from the Gospel of St Mark (14. 32-51).

Archbishop in Interview with BBC South East Today

Speaking to BBC South East Today in a live interview from the cathedral nave, the Archbishop of Canterbury explained the significance of washing the feet of the congregation saying, ''I think it is one of the most significant acts of the year because it is one of those times when we do absolutely and simply what Jesus told his friends and followers to do. He said, 'I've washed your feet, you wash one another's feet'. And so when I kneel down in front of theses members of the congregation, it's a way of saying to them and I hope to the world around that in the Christian world, any kind of power or responsibility given to anyone is there for one thing only and that's to serve others''.

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Full transcript