Summary of comments of this office by Dom Schuster, in his work L'année liturgique.

The Basilica of the Savior, near which the sovereign pontiffs established their ordinary residence in the fifth century, today claims the honor of the rites by which the Church begins the paschal solemnity. Before, there used to be three Masses: one in the morning for reconciling the public penitents; another for the consecration of the holy oils destined to be used in anointing the sick and for baptism; and finally, a third in the evening to commemorate the Lord's last Supper and the paschal communion.

Nowadays, the rite is less complex, and the discipline of public penance having fallen into disuse, the Mass for the reconciliation of public penitents is no longer celebrated.

The triple Masses celebrated by our forebears had suggested to them a wise abridging of the ceremony, and we learn from the documents of the eighth century that the third Mass began directly by the preface, the readings and the psalms and all that habitually precedes the Canon having been omitted. That is why, in our missal, all the first part of the Mass of Holy Thursday lacks its own propers, and gleans from other Masses the elements that comprise it.

The antiphon of the Introït is taken, exceptionally, from an epistle of the Apostle (Gal. 6:14). Far from being a source of dishonor, the gibbet of the cross is for the Christian a title of glory, because it is from it that, by means of Jesus Christ, spring forth salvation, life, and resurrection. A versicle from Psalm 66 follows: "May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us; and may He have mercy on us."

The Gradual is taken from St. Paul (Phil. 2:8-9): "Christ became obedient for us unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause, God also hath exalted Him and hath given Him a name which is above all names."

The psalm of the Offertory is taken from Psalm 117: "The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me. I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord."

The antiphon for the Communion is taken from St. John (13:12, 13, 15) and relates to the washing of feet.

After the Mass, the sacred Species are transported to another altar prepared for this purpose, for Good Friday's liturgical action.