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Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour. The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras ('fat Tuesday'). So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off. Giving up foods: but not wasting themĭuring Lent there are many foods that some Christians - historically and today - would not eat: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes: In the Catholic or Orthodox context, the absolution is pronounced by a priest. When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots. Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day.īut there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent starts: the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week. Eastern churches call this period the 'Great Lent'. Western churches start Lent on the 7th Wednesday before Easter Day (called Ash Wednesday).Įastern churches start Lent on the Monday of the 7th week before Easter and end it on the Friday 9 days before Easter. The churches also start Lent on different days. The western church excludes Sundays (which is celebrated as the day of Christ's resurrection) whereas the eastern church includes them. East and Westīoth the eastern and western churches observe Lent but they count the 40 days differently. Purple is used for two reasons: firstly because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, and secondly because purple is the colour associated with royalty, and celebrates Christ's resurrection and sovereignty. Purple is the symbolic colour used in some churches throughout Lent, for drapes and altar frontals. Lent is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer. Lent is an old English word meaning 'lengthen'. Most Christians regard Jesus' time in the wilderness as the key event for the duration of Lent. Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.Why 40 days?Ĥ0 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture: Whatever the sacrifice it is a reflection of Jesus' deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. This is believed to have taken place in Roman occupied Jerusalem. Whereas Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent recalls the events leading up to and including Jesus' crucifixion by Rome. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter.
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Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Find this year's dates in the multifaith calendar