The clergy will meet at 6:00 am in the morning and cloth the Arc inside the Holy of Holies with black cloth. They will do the same Rites of prayers and procession of 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th hour like the Rite of the past three days [Monday to Wednesday]. Then the procession of washing continues.
Rite of Holy Thursday – Washing feets
A deacon will bring two container with full of waters- one for washing hand and the other for washing leg. Then the Priest will pray “the prayer of Thank giving”
Priest: We give thanks unto the doer of good things unto us, the merciful God, the Father of our Lord and our God and our Savior Jesus Christ: for He hath covered us and succored us, He hath kept us and brought us nigh and received us unto Himself, and undertaken our defense, and strengthened us, and brought us unto this hour. Let us therefore pray unto Him that the Almighty Lord our God keep us in this holy day and all the days of our life in all peace.
Master. Lord God Almighty, the Father of our Lord and our God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we render Thee thanks upon everything, for everything and in everything, for Thou hast covered us and succorred us, hast kept us and brought us nigh, and received us unto Thyself, and undertaken our defense, and strengthened us and brought us unto this hour.
For this cause we pray and entreat of Thy goodness, O lover of man, grant us to complete this holy day and all the days of our life in all peace along with thy fear. All envy, all trial, all the working of Satan, the counsel of evil, and all the uprisings of adversaries, secret and open. Remove far from me (benediction over himself) and from all Thy people (benediction over the people) and from this Thy holy place (benediction over those things which are on the altar).
All good things, that are expedient and excellent, command Thou for us, for Thou art He that hath given us power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us and rescue us from all evil: in the grace and loving kindness which were shown by the love towards mankind of Thy only begotten Son, our lord and our God and our Savior Jesus Christ, through whom to Thee with Him and with the Holy Spirit, the lifegiver, who is co-equal with Thee are fitting glory and honor and dominion, both now and ever and world without end. Amen.
ዲያቆን፣ ተንስኡ ለጸሎት።
Diaqon: Tensi’u letselot
Deacon: Stand up for prayer.
ሕዝብ፣ እግዚኦ ተሣሃለነ።
Hizb:Egzio tesahalene
People: Lord have mercy upon us.
ካህን፣ ሰላም ለኵልክሙ።
Kahn: Selam lekulikemu
Priest: Peace be unto you all.
ሕዝብ፣ ምስለ መንፈስከ።
Hizb: Misle menfesike.
People: And with Thy spirit.
ዲያቆን፣ ጸልዩ በአንተ ወንጌል ቅዱስ
Diaqon: Tseli’yu be’inte wengiel Qidus.
Deacon: Pray for the Holy Gospel.
Misbak [Psalm 51:7-8]
leanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
ቁሙ ወኣጽምዑ ከመ ንኩን ድልዋነ ለሰሚዓ ወንጌል ቅዱስ፡ ኦ እግዚእነ ወኣምላክነ፡ መሓረነ ወተሠሃለነ ወረስየነ ድልዋነ ለሰሚዓ ወንጌል ቅዱስ።
Qumu weatsmU keme nkun dlwane lesemiA Wengel Qidus, O Egziene we’Amlakine, meharene wetesehalene wereseyene dlwane lesemiA Wengel Qidus
Deacon:- Stand up and hearken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may He have mercy on us and compassion on us and let us bow our heads to hear the Holy Gospel
ወንጌል ቅዱስ ወዮሓንስ ቃለ ወልደ እግዚኣብሔር፡
Wengel Qidus zezienewu Matiewos weMarkos Luqas weYohanes Qal Welde Egziabhier
Priest: The Holy Gospel which John preached the Word of the Son of God.
ስብሓት ለከ ክርስቶስ እግዚእየ ወኣምላኪየ ኵሎ ጊዜ፡
Sibhat leke Kristos Egziye we’Amlakiye kulu gizie
People: Glory be to Thee, Christ my Lord and my God, at all times.
Priest reads Gospel of John 13:4-16
Then the Priest will bless the water with a cross saying:
ካህን፣ ፩ዱ አብ ቅዱስ ፩ዱ ወልድ ቅዱስ ፩ዱ ውእቱ መንፈስ ቅዱስ
Kahn: Ahadu Ab Qidus, Ahadu Weld Qidus, Ahadu wi’itu Menfes Qidus.
Priest: One is the Holy Father, one is the Holy Son, one is the Holy Spirit.
ሕዝብ፣ በአማን አብ ቅዱስ በአማን ወልድ ቅዱስ በአማን ውእቱ መንፈስ ቅዱስ።
Hizb: Be’aman Ab Qidus, be’Aman Weld Qidus, be’aman wi’itu Menfes Qidus.
People: Truly the Father is holy, truly the Son is holy, truly the Holy Spirit is holy.
ካህን፣ ሰብሕዎ ለእግዚአብሔር ኲልክሙ አሕዛብ።
Kahn: Sebihiwo le’Egziabhier kulikimu ahizab.
Priest: Praise the Lord, all ye nations.
ሕዝብ፣ ወይሴብሕዎ ኵሎም ህዝብ
Hizb: Weyisebihwo kulomu hizb
People: And praise Him , all ye people.
ካህን፣ እስመ ፀንዐት ምሕረቱ ላዕሌነ።
Kahn: Isme tsin’ate mihretu la’ilene.
Priest: For His merciful kindness is great toward us.
ሕዝብ፣ ጽድቁሰ ለእግዚአብሔር ይሄሉ ለዓለም።
Hizb: Tsidquse le’Egziabhier yihelu le’alem.
People: And the Truth of the Lord endureth for ever.
ካህን፣ ስብሐት ለአብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ፡ ይእዜኒ ወዘልፈኒ ወለዓለመ ዓለም አሜን ሃሌ ሉያ።
Kahn: Sibhat le’Ab weWeld, weMenfes Qidus, yi’izeni wezelfeni wele’aleme alem Amen Halleluya.
Priest: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and world without end. Hallelujah
Then Mergeta will sing the following with the prayer of Psalm 151 saying
ሊቃውንት መዘምራን: ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ። ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Doctors of the Church/Singers/Teachers sing saying – The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
Priest will start washing feets starting with clergy and then all the faithful. While the priest washes feets, the following will be sing
ሰብሕዎ ለእግዚአብሔር በቅዱሳኑ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise the Lord, Praise God in his sanctuary;The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በጽንዐ ኀይሉ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him in his mighty heavens. The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በከመ ብዝኀ ዕበዩ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him for his acts of power; The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በቃለ ቀርን ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him for his surpassing greatness.The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በመዝሙር ወበመሰንቆ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎብሕዎ በከበሮ ወበትፍሥሕት ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him with the harp and lyre,The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በኣውታር ወበእንዚራ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him with timbrel and with the strings. The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ሰብሕዎ በጸናጽል ወበይባቤ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Praise him with the clash of cymbals and resounding cymbals.The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ኩሉ ነፍስ ይሴብሖ ለእግዚአብሔር ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ስብሐት ለአብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
ለዓለመ ወለዓለመ ዓለም ሃሌ ሉያ።ሐዋርያቲሁ ከበበ እግረ እርዳኢሁ ሐፀበ፡ ኮኖሙ አበ ወእመ ወመሀሮሙ ጥበበ ሃሌ ሉያ።
Both now and ever and world without end. The Lord gather the disciples around Him and, in humility, He bent to wash the disciples’ feet. He thought wisdom and become their Father and Mother, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, He wash the disciples and said, “ I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.[John 13:14]
Then the clergy will proceed with the Holy Liturgy. The liturgy has some unique features for example
- The clergy don’t wear white cloth instead they wear black vestments
- They don’t use Ringing a bell instead we use Cymbals.
- Instead of Prayer of penance , we read reading from Act of the Passion of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
- The clergy do the liturgy with very soft voice
- The Lord’s prayer will be sing in a manner that has been done during passion week during liturgy.
- There is no prayer of “Pilot of the soul”, prayer of blessing or Kissing the cross.
Misbak of the Liturgy
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; [Psalm 23:5-6]