FOOT-WASHING: A religious ceremony practised at various times in different branches of the
Church. The use of sandals among the Eastern
natives required frequent washing of the feet, and
to
perform this office for others was considered a
mark of hospitality. At the Last Supper Jesus
washed the feet of his disciples
(John xiii. 5-10)
to indicate that he who was not purified by him had
no part with him. The postapostolic age understood the example thus given to be mandatory.
Augustine (Epist. ad Januarium) testifies that it
was followed on Maundy Thursday by the Church
of his day. St. Bernard in his sermon
De ccena Domini recommends foot-washing as " a daily
sacrament for the remission of sins." In the Greek
Church also it was regarded as a "mystery." Yet
it nowhere became a general, public, solemn, ecclesiastical act. It is still, however, solemnly performed in certain places as by the
pope, the emperors of Austria and Russia, the kings of Spain,
Portugal, and Bavaria, and a number of bishops
and monastic superiors, the subjects being twelve
poor old men invited for the purpose, or twelve
priests. Many minor Baptist bodies also observe
the custom (see
Adventists,2;
Baptists, II., 4, d, g, h;
Dunkers, II, ยง 3).
The Reformers, especially Luther (cf. his Maundy Thursday sermon concerning foot-washing in
the Hauspostille), opposed "that hypocritical footwashing, in which one stoops to wash the feet of
his inferior, but expects still more humility in return." The Evangelical Church has endeavored,
therefore, to impress the meaning of Christ's act on
the hearts of men by diligently proclaiming his
Gospel. At Schwabisch Hall (in Wdrttemberg), on
Wednesday before Easter every year, a special
Fusswaschungspredigt is still delivered in St. Catherine's Church. The Church of England at first
carried out the letter of the command; but the
practise afterward fell into disuse. The Anabaptists declared most decidedly in favor of foot-washing, appealing to
John xiii. 14,
and also to
I Tim. v. 10,
considering it as a sacrament instituted by
Christ himself,
'1 whereby our being washed by the
blood of Christ and his example of deep humiliation
is to be impressed upon us " (Confession of the
United Baptists or Mennonites, 1660). The Moravians with the
love-feasts revived also the footwashing, yet without strictly
enforcing it or confining it to Maundy Thursday. It was performed not
only by the leaders toward their followers, but also
by the latter among themselves, during the singing
of a hymn explanatory of the symbol. This prac-
tile was finally abolished by the Moravian Synod
in 1818. In the Lutheran Church, during the
period of orthodoxy, foot-washing was considered
as '- an abominable papal corruption." In the
year 1718
the Upper Consistory at Dresden con
demned twelve Lutheran citizens of Weida to pub
lic penance for having permitted Duke Maurice
William (at that time still a Roman Catholic) to
wash their feet.
Paul Tschackert.
Bibliography:
E. Marthne, De antiquia exleeiss ritibus,
IV., xltii. 8, 4 vols., Baeeano, 1788; J. Goar. Buchologium,
pp. 591-596, Paris, 1647; G. Catalani, Ceremonials
eoaoopomm . . . commentariis Qusbatum, ii. 286-272, Rome,
1744; W. F. Gees. Die Fusewaschung Jesu, Basel.
1884; F. Kattenbuech, Lehrbuch der romgleichenden Confessionkunde, Freiburg, 1890; AL, iv. 2146-48.
