The Wednesday before Easter Sunday is the day on which the disciple Judas
Iscariot made the deal to betray Jesus. In order to arrest Jesus without exciting the
populace, Judas led the Jewish priests to the Garden of Gethsemane, near Jerusalemwhere Jesus had gone at night to pray with the other 11 disciples after the Last
Supper ( see Maundy Thursday). Judas identified Jesus by kissing him and
addressing him as “Master.” For this he was paid 30 pieces of silver, the price of a
slave in the Old Testament.
The name “Spy Wednesday” is said to be of Irish origin, although the Bible never
refers to Judas as a spy. His surname, Iscariot, is believed by some to be a
corruption of the Latin sicarius, meaning “murderer” or “assassin.”
Services in St. Marys on Wednesday 5th April – Spy Wednesday
@ 10:30am – Stations of the Cross & Sacrament of Penance.
@ 7:00pm – Mass of Reconciliation for the Forgiveness of Sins.