“Maundy” Thursday comes from the Latin mandatum, “command-ment.” The term refers to the footwashing at the Last Supper when Jesus spoke of the new commandment to love one another as he himself had loved.
Because Good Friday commem-orates Christ’s death on the cross, people often wonder about the significance of the word “good.” It probably derived from the term “God’s Friday,” just as “good-by” derives from “God be with ye.”
taken from Seasons and Symbols published by the Augsburg
Publishing House