Also known as Holy Thursday, this day marks the Christian feast which commemorates the Last Supper which Jesus Christ shared with the Apostles.

The ‘Washing of the Feet’ is a traditional part of the celebration in many Christian churches. In early ceremonies, senior clergymen would wash the feet of the lower clergy and this has evolved from its origins in AD600 to include alms distributed by the sovereign. This was first recorded when King John distributed alms to the poor of Knaresborough, Yorkshire in 1210. Today, the Queen will visit Derby Cathedral to distribute special Maundy coinage to 84 men and 84 women, representing the number of years of her age.

Bookmark this article >>

Hide Sites

Sometimes known as ‘Spy Wednesday’, Holy Wednesday is noted as the day that Judas Iscariot first conspired with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins.

Some striking customs have been established to mark Holy Wednesday:

• In Poland, children hurl effigies of Judas Iscariot from the church steeple, dragging it through the village, punding it with sticks and stones and finally drowning what remains.
• In Malta children attend the parish church and drum on the chairs to represent the sound of thunderstorms.
• In the Czech Republic, chimneys used to be swept on this day to be clean for Easter, giving rise to the name Ugly Wednesday, Soot Sweeping Wednesday or Black Wednesday.

At Virginia Hayward the customs on the Wednesday before Easter are much less striking, but important to recipients of our hampers! Due to the bank holiday on Good Friday, Thursday is the last day for deliveries prior to Easter. Consequently, the team will be working hard to get all the parcels ready for despatch on Wednesday night and delivery on Thursday.

Bookmark this article >>

Hide Sites

In the days prior to Easter, Holy Tuesday is observed by both Eastern and Western Christianity, but doesn’t appear to have any biblical event associated with it. As with Holy Monday, few protestant churches have special services for Holy Tuesday.

At Virginia Hayward it’s also business as usual. Aside from a few sleepy eyes on Monday morning, we’re very pleased that the clocks have now gone forward and that the evenings are that little bit lighter. We’re also very proud to say that we’re doing our bit for the environment as indigenous, deciduous hardwood trees are being planted across the site, which we’ll be posting pictures and more details of next week.

Bookmark this article >>

Hide Sites

With the shops full to bursting with Easter Eggs and online gifting companies (such as ourselves!) offering gifts and hampers as well, it can hardly have escaped anyone’s attention that Easter is almost here. It certainly won’t be news to our packing and despatch teams as they pack and label hampers ready for delivery before Easter!

However, what you’re less likely to be familiar with are the specific events in the week running up to Easter,  so this week we’ll try and provide a little background into the events of each day.

Today is Holy Monday, also known as Great and Holy Monday. Holy Monday precedes the commemoration of the Death and resurrection of Jesus and in Western Christianity the Gospel lesson describes the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. Few Protestant churches have special services for Holy Monday, which may go some way to explaining why it’s often overlooked outside the Church.

Bookmark this article >>

Hide Sites