Maundy Thursday falls this year on March 24. It's the day on which Christians remember the Last Supper, when Jesus washed his disciples' feet.

The story is told in John's Gospel: "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him" (13: 3-5).

Peter resists, but Jesus says to him: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Later he says, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you" (verse 34).

There are two suggestions about the origin of the word "Maundy". One is that it derives – via Middle English and Old French – from the first word of verse 34 in Latin, which begins "Mandatum novum do vobis".

The other is that it relates to an old word for "to beg", from Latin mendicare and the English maund. English kings distributed alms to beggars in Whitehall before they attended Mass, a custom still observed by the monarch today, who distributes purses of "Maundy money" to as many elderly men and women as there are years in the sovereign's age.