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Post a Comment Judas in the Rite of the Washing of Feet
Abstract
The foot washing ceremony performed on Maundy Thursday recreates the events described in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John: a clergyman, usually a bishop or abbot of a monastery, washes the feet of twelve clerics or monks, just as Christ, according to the Gospel of John, washed the feet of his twelve disciples (apostles). One of these apostles was Judas. In the modern foot washing ceremony, none of the participants represent Judas. The situation was different in pre-Petrine Russia, where each participant was given the name of one of the apostles, and one of them had to play the role of Judas. As it is demonstrated in the present paper, the ceremony itself was a liturgical drama, a theatrical performance: the foot washing ritual was presented as a reenactment of the Gospel story. The evolution of this ritual was largely associated with the elimination of the role of Judas from the cast of characters.
DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2025.2.01
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