“Maundy” means “Command” and comes from the words of Jesus:

“A new command I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

After they had eaten the Passover meal, Jesus gave the disciples his body and blood together with the bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins. The altar is then stripped, which symbolizes the stripping of Jesus by the soldiers before his crucifixion.