I pass the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on my Metro ride to and from work each day. (See the earlier post of my visit and photos to the basilica.) So, when I realized the basilica's Holy Thursday Mass would begin about 30 minutes after I would pass by it, I decided to stop there for Mass.
It was quite a Mass: About 100 priests, three bishops, six presiders, more than 1,000 people, and the apostolic nuncio to the United States.
And now, a brief explanation. Holy Thursday celebrates Jesus' last supper with his apostles. Mass includes the washing of feet (Jesus' washed his apostles' feet) and Eucharistic benediction with transfer of the Eucharist to a chapel (prayers, incense and a procession).
This particular Mass lasted two hours. It began with a procession of all 100 priests, 20+ servers and more. And it ended with that whole group (followed by the whole church) processing to the Blessed Sacrament chapel.
I wasn't exactly sure what the title "apostolic nuncio" meant, but I believed it had a connection to the Pope -- plus the guy had an obvious connection to Italy (his name was Pietro Sambi and he had a definite accent). When I researched it, I found that an apostolic nuncio, or Papal nuncio, is a diplomatic representative of the Pope to a state. (And, yes, this one was born in Italy.)
And did I mention it was all on TV? Yes, this was the Holy Thursday Mass broadcast on EWTN.
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