One of the signature parts of the liturgy during Holy Week is the traditional feet washing on Holy Thursday. During the middle of Mass, priests will wash the feet of parishioners, imitating the example of Jesus at the Last Supper.
The act of washing feet during the liturgy is very ancient and initially was not reserved to Holy Thursday.
Dom Prosper Gueranger explains in his Liturgical Year how it began in the early Church.
St. Augustine mentions it in a letter to Januarius.
By the Middle Ages the act of feet washing became a part of the liturgical celebration of Holy Thursday, where local bishops and even the pope would wash the feet of 12 poor persons.
This was later refined and limited at the Vatican to 12 deacons, priests, or bishops. In turn, it was stated in the Roman Missal in 1955 that 12 men were to be chosen for this ceremonial feet washing on Holy Thursday, representing the 12 Apostles.
Then in 2016, Cardinal Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments at the time, issued a letter permitting the washing of women's feet on Holy Thursday.
This change was meant to allow "pastors [to] choose a group of faithful representing the variety and unity of every part of the People of God. This group may consist of men and women, and ideally of the young and the old, healthy and sick, clerics, consecrated persons and laypeople."
The ceremony remains a beautiful part of Holy Thursday, reminding us that discipleship requires of us an imitation of Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us and showed us how to love one another.
