Holy Thursdayn.

eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) v. §5. 52 Se ðe stalað on Sunnanniht..oððe on ðone halgan Þunresdæg on Gangdagas: ðara gehwelc we willað sie twybote.

OE Blickling Homilies 115 (heading) On þa halgan þunres dei.]

lOE Laws: Rectitudines (Corpus Cambr.) iii. §4. 446 Sylle his heorðpænig on halgan Ðunresdæg.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5989 Ure laferrd crist..stah upp till heoffne. O þatt daȝȝ þatt upp onn ennglissh. Iss hallȝhe þurrs daȝȝ nemmnedd.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 33 Þu sechȝe þiblisfule sune..swa wurðliche & michteliche on hali þuresdei [c1230 Corpus Cambr. þursdei] stiȝinde to his blisse Into his riche to heouen.

c1300 St. Mark (Laud) l. 48 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 363 (MED) Men fastez, ȝwane huy formest berez heom [sc. the banners] out a-seint Marcus dai þare-fore, And þreo dawes a-ȝein halewe-þoresday, ȝwane huy bez forþer i-bore.

c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Hymns to Virgin & Christ (1867) 55 Oure lord,..In erþe he was..Til hooly þursday comen were, Þat he stiȝ to heuene.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ii. 59 The feste of Penthecoste after the holy thursdaye.

a1500 Roberd of Cisyle (Cambr. Ff.2.38) (1879) l. 262 (MED) That þey myght..Wende to þer brodur, þe pope of Rome, To see hys nobull & ryall arraye In Rome on halowe-thursdaye.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 232/1 Holythursday, le jour de lassention.

1654 P. Heylyn Theologia Veterum vii. xi. 260 The Feast of holy Thursday, of the Lords Ascension, is of as great Antiquity as eminencie in the Christian Church.

1685 in Verney Mem. 28 May (1899) IV. 348 The House [of Commons] sitts not this day being Holy Thursday.

1725 H. Bourne Antiquitates Vulgares xxvi. 203 It was a general Custom formerly, and is still observed in some Country Parishes, to go round the Bounds and Limits of the Parish, on one of the three Days before Holy Thursday, or the Feast of our Lord's Ascension.

1770 W. Emerson Chronology 43 Ascension day, or Holy Thursday, the Thursday after Rogation.

1829 N. Amer. Rev. Oct. 549 It seems that at Walthamstow in England, it is the custom of the inhabitants, in beating the bounds, on Holy Thursday, to bump every gentleman they meet.

1863 R. Chambers Bk. of Days I. 595/1 Our..landlady at Matlock reminded us that on the following day, being Holy Thursday, or Ascension Day, there would take place the..ancient..custom of dressing the wells of Tissington with flowers.

1891 Church Q. Rev. Jan. 449 (note) By Holy Thursday an Englishman has hitherto always understood one day in the year, that is, Ascension Day... Some have nowadays..begun to use the term Holy Thursday as a name for the Thursday before Easter, which in old English is called Sherethursday or Maundy Thursday. This..is a mere borrowing from the Romance tongues, and is a cause of much confusion.

1931 Folk-lore 42 320 In goodly numbers the parishioners walked round the boundaries on one of the three days before Holy Thursday, or on the Feast of the Ascension.

1983 W. B. Hunter Milton's Comus ii. 19 The birthday of Alice, the person being honored, was Holy Thursday. This was not the Maundy Thursday of Holy week, but Ascension Day, forty days after Easter.

2005 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 23 Apr. 10 On May 5, 2005, the general and local elections take place... As I see this date is Ascension Day or Holy Thursday. Could it be just sheer coincidence or yet another example of these politicians thinking they are above God?

OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 104 To þon halgan æfenne þæs halgan gereordes, þæt is to þam halgan Þurresdæge ær þam drihtenlican earster dæge [read Easterdæge].

1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) cxxiii. 165 Vpon the holy thursday in the passion weke.]

1590 H. Barrow & J. Greenwood Coll. Sclaunderous Articles sig. Fiv ^v Your lents, Rogacions, ash-wensdayes.., Your mawnday & holy Thursdayes, your goodfrydayes with their peculiar worshipps..To all which you add your blasphemous abuse of the Scriptures shredding and rendinge them from theire naturall sence & true vse, to bende & applye them to Your Idole feasts & dayes.

1618 Owles Almanacke 9 Good Friday the Friday before Easter. And this yeere Holy Thursday (which I neuer wonder at) will fall vpon a Thursday.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 385 On Holy Thursday the Pope said Masse.

1729 ‘C. Fell’ Lives of Saints I. 30 In the Middle of the XIV Age it [sc. Good Friday] was reduc'd to a half Festival, which ended at Noon, together with that of Holy Thursday and Easter Eve.

1790 S. Pegge Observ. Fonts in Eng. 48 Another usage in respect to the font was that of locking it up during the whole season of Lent..till Holy Thursday and Maundy Thursday, on which day it was usually opened, preparatory to the solemnity of Easter.

1837 Times 24 Feb. 2/5 On last Holy Thursday or Good Friday they were at the bakehouse of the Sieur Montonnet to heat the oven.

1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iii. 109 On Holy Thursday, the day of the institution of the Holy Eucharist.

1885 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 404/2 Mediæval writers connect the procession with the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday with our Lord's journey to the Mount of Olives after the Last Supper.

1891 Church Q. Rev. Jan. 449 (note) By Holy Thursday an Englishman has hitherto always understood one day in the year, that is, Ascension Day... Some have nowadays..begun to use the term Holy Thursday as a name for the Thursday before Easter, which in old English is called Sherethursday or Maundy Thursday. This..is a mere borrowing from the Romance tongues, and is a cause of much confusion.

1937 Burlington Mag. May 246/1 The large plain dish..engraved with the arms and cipher of William and Mary, which is used once a year on Maundy or Holy Thursday for the historical ceremony of the distribution of alms in Westminster Abbey.

1988 Courier-Mail (Queensland, Austral.) (Nexis) 4 Apr. Thanks to the card and egg people, I can tell you that in the Netherlands, children celebrate Holy Thursday by caroling from door to door as they beg for Easter eggs.

2000 K. B. Westerfield Tucker in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 184/2 The paschal mystery is now expressed liturgically by renewed attention to the interconnection of the three days from sunset on Holy Thursday to Easter Day (the Triduum ).

1789 T. Anburey Trav. Interior Parts Amer. I. xviii. 207 Holy Thursday, which they term La Fête Dieu.