Lent Begins

Someone asked me the other day what “Shrove” as in Shrove Tuesday meant. I didn’t have a clue, but promised to look for the answer.

The word shrove comes from the Middle English word “shrive”, meaning to confess one’s sins and receive absolution. In the Christian tradition, people used this day to prepare for the Lenten fast. When Lent was observed more strictly, especially in the Catholic tradition,  than it is today, meat and animal products were off-limits during the fasting period. This made Shrove Tuesday the ideal occasion to indulge before fasting began. Pancakes were an effective and delicious way to use up surplus eggs, butter and milk.

Celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, this day of feasting and celebration marks the start of Lent, the 40 days (excluding Sundays) of Christian fasting that precedes Easter.

We are invited to participate in the disciplines of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—all of which are strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament in worship.

See you in church!