Summerlea United Church
225 50th Ave, Lachine, Québec, H8T2T7, Canada. 514-634-2651
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Maundy Thursday Seder April 21, 2010
Posted 28 April, 2011

On Thursday evening, 21 April 2011, a number of Summerlea folk and visitors from Cedar Park and Beaconsfield United churches celebrated the Seder supper, an ancient Jewish tradition celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the Passover, as celebrated by Jesus in the Last Supper. The ceremony begins with the lighting of candles and the telling of the meaning of the seder symbols: Zeroah: the shank bone of a lamb, reminder of the lamb offered on Passover and that God struck the Egyptians but passed over the houses of the Hebrew people in Egypt. Behtza: roasted egg offered at the Temple of Jerusalem at the Passover festival. Maror: a piece of bitter herbs (or radish), reminder of the bitterness and hardship of slavery. Haroset: a mixture of chopped apple, cinnamon, nuts and wine, reminder of the mortar used by the forced Hebrew labourers in Egypt. Karpas: a piece of celery or parsley, is a reminder of springtime, the season of Passover. It is used as a sign of gratitude to God for the goodness of the earth, for our bread and food. Salt Water: symbolic of the tears which Israel endured in its experience of slavery, used as a dip for the karpas. Matzo: unleavened bread, symbol of the bread made by the Israelites while fleeing Egypt, when they did not have time to wait for yeast to rise. The ceremony continues with washing of hands and eating the symbols with four cups of wine or juice, accompanied by stories of how the symbols remind us of the past. At this point the pot luck supper is consumed, followed by the eating of the Afikoman, reminder that what has been lost can be found. After the seder ceremony, the assemblage proceeds to the sanctuary to strip it of all ornamentation, to be replaced Easter Sunday morning. All in all, a moving reminder of the ancient history from which Christianity was born.

To start, the Celebrant washes his hands.

The Matzo (unleavened bread), the Zeroah (shank bone of a lamb) and the wine (juice).

The salt water, Behtza (roasted egg), Karpas (parsley), Haroset (chopped apple, cinnamon, nuts and wine) & Maror (radish).

Rev. Scott Patton welcomed the assembly. Brian Maklan (seated, nattily attired for the occasion) acted as Celebrant. Revs. Ron Coughlin (Cedar Park) and Shaun Friday (Beaconsfield) read the readings.

Leslie McEwen lit the tapers for the women to take to the candles on their tables.

All shared in the Seder elements and wine, as members of the assemblage asked for the meaning of each element and received the answer from the Celebrant (Brian). (The snap shooter missed getting a shot of Brian.)

Then it was time to load the buffet table with the pot luck dishes.

Folks shot the breeze as the buffet table loaded up.

Then it was time to load the plates.

Now it's time to chow down, before proceeding to the sanctuary for the stripping of the ornamentation, with a couple of readings and a hymn.

Thus ends another celebration of the Seder meal that Jesus enjoyed with his disciples at the Last Supper.

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