Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Tuesday

As a child, I was unfamiliar with Pancake/Shrove Tuesday and the traditions surrounding it, but my best friend and her family invited me to their church for supper, where I was able to experience the festivities firsthand. Of course, there were the pancakes but beyond the food, was the sense of community and camaraderie that comes with sharing a meal together.

Events like this can provide us with an opportunity to come together and celebrate our shared values, while also acknowledging the importance of reflection and repentance. And, you experience firsthand a chance to form connections with others in the community. As a child I did not understand the significance of “Pancake Tuesday” only that it was a lot of fun and delicious! Many friends I know still ask - WHAT IS SHROVE TUESDAY?

Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, is a significant day in the Christian faith, marking the start of the Lenten season. It is a day of celebration and preparation, where people indulge in rich and indulgent foods before the start of a period of fasting and sacrifice.

The origin of Shrove Tuesday can be traced back to medieval times when people would confess their sins and receive absolution, or "shrive" themselves before the start of Lent. It was a time of preparation for the penitential season, where Christians would make sacrifices, give alms, and focus on their relationship with God.

As the custom of confessing one's sins before Lent waned, the focus shifted to food, and Shrove Tuesday became associated with indulging in rich foods. Pancakes, in particular, became a traditional food as they were a way of using up ingredients like sugar, butter, and eggs that would be forbidden during Lent. Pancakes were also seen as a symbol of unity, as they could be made easily and quickly, bringing people together to celebrate and enjoy each other's company.

From a faith perspective, Shrove Tuesday is an important reminder that we need to take the time to reflect on our relationship with God and prepare ourselves for the Lenten season. It is a time to confess our sins, seek forgiveness, and commit to making positive changes in our lives. The indulgent foods we enjoy on this day should not distract us from this central message; rather, they should serve as a reminder that we need to make sacrifices and give up our worldly desires in order to focus on our spiritual well-being.

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration and joy, but it is also a time for reflection and repentance. As we indulge in our pancakes and other treats, let us take the opportunity to reflect on our relationship with God and commit to making positive changes in our lives. Let us remember the true meaning of this day and the importance of preparing ourselves for the Lenten season.

-Connie Rodgers, Guest Blog

Fat Tuesday

What is in a name? Mardi Gras (or in English, “Fat Tuesday”) has evolved in New Orleans far from the Christian roots of the French-speaking Acadians.  Expelled from New Brunswick by the British government, many Acadians settled in Louisiana where they maintained practices such as observing Mardi Gras. 

On the Tuesday preceding Lent fat was used up in preparing rich foods that would be prohibited during the forty-day penitential season beginning with Ash Wednesday on the following day. Lent is the forty-day period preceding Easter Sunday; it represents the forty-day fast of Jesus in the desert prior to beginning his public ministry and is observed by many Christian denominations.

Traditional practices include fasting, abstinence from meat, almsgiving, and sacrificing such pleasures as going to movies or consuming alcoholic beverages. In New Orleans, Mardi Gras has become a not-so-Christian event characterized by extravagant parades and celebrations. Mardi Gras is also known as Shrove Tuesday, the day on which Christians would confess and be “shriven” or released from the guilt of sins of the preceding year prior to the forty days of penitence and atonement.

In a recent conversation with friends, stories of family practices on the day preceding Lent were exchanged. A pancake supper in my family meant that my mother stood at the stove cooking and serving pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup. My seven siblings and I would press forks through the cooked dough in search of the tokens that supposedly predicted our future: A button indicated permanent bachelorhood; a dime foretold future wealth, and a ring signified marriage.  Another person described her ravenous brothers requiring their mother to toil endlessly producing the delicacies, which she despised, quickly enough to keep up with their demands and fill their hollow legs. A woman originally from England served her version of pancakes (thin crepes topped with lemon juice and icing sugar) to Canadians who snubbed them as inferior. A person from an Italian family had to develop the art of making thin crepes with a meat filling. Another member of the group informed us that she attends a pancake supper fundraiser at a church.

Do you have ways in which you mark the annual event of Mardi Gras, Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday?

-Sister Pat McKeon, csj

Shrove Tuesday - A Day of Forgiveness and pancakes!