Daily readings

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Holy Thursday. Holy Week. A clean reading layout for church, prayer, or preparation.

CelebrationHoly Thursday

TypeTriduum

SeasonHoly Week

Year2026 archive

The Roman Catholic readings for this date are shown below on-site. Use plain reading mode if you want clearer modern wording, or switch back to the original Douay-Rheims wording at any time.

Reading mode

Plain mode helps modern readers follow the text more easily.

On-site scripture text: Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. Plain mode is a built-in reading aid that modernizes older wording for easier understanding while keeping the same Roman Catholic reading references for the day.

1

First Reading

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14

How to approach it

Read this as the first big movement of the day. Notice what God is doing, who is speaking, and what part of the story or teaching should stay with you.

1And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

2This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year.

3Speak you to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses.

4But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take to him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.

5And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year: according to which rite also you shall take a kid.

6And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the whole crowd of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening.

7And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, in which they shall eat it.

8And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce.

11And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat in haste: for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.

12And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.

13And the blood shall be to you for a sign in the houses where you shall be: and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you: and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike the land of Egypt.

14And this day shall be for a memorial to you: and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord in your generations with an eternal observance.

2

Psalm

Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18.

How to pray it

The psalm is meant to be prayed, not rushed. If the wording feels older, focus on the main movement of the prayer: trust, praise, sorrow, gratitude, or hope.

12What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he has rendered to me?

13I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

3

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

How to read it

This reading often teaches Christians how to live with steadiness, charity, and faith. Look for one clear encouragement or warning you can carry into the day.

23For I have received of the Lord that which also I gave to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.

24And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take you, and eat: this is my body, which shall be rescued for you: this do for the commemoration of me.

25In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me.

26For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come.

4

Gospel

John 13:1-15

What to watch for

The Gospel is the center of the reading set. Pay close attention to what Jesus says, what Jesus does, and what response he is asking for.

1Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2And when supper was done, (the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him,)

3Knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goes to God;

4He rises from supper, and layeth aside his clothes, and having taken a towel, girded himself.

5After that, he putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel with what he was girded.

6He comes therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter says to him: Lord, do you wash my feet?

7Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter.

8Peter says to him: You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash you not, you shall have no part with me.

9Simon Peter says to him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.

10Jesus says to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all.

11For he knew who he was that would betray him; therefore he said: You are not all clean.

12Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his clothes, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you?

13You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am.

14If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet.

15For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.

Source note

This page uses the Catholic Readings API for the day's references and liturgical celebration data, while the on-site scripture text is rendered from the public-domain Douay-Rheims Bible distributed through the Open Bibles project.