Shrove Tuesday is not a very well known day in the Christian Calendar, especially among Protestants, and all too quickly it is losing its original meaning. Shrove Tuesday, is known as Pancake Day by some, but the original day was meant to be a preparation to begin the 40 days of Lent. Shrove Tuesday always comes before Ash Wednesday, which is exactly 47 days before Easter. The 40 days of Lent are counted from Ash Wednesday but do not include Sundays which are meant to be small breaks in the ‘fasts’ leading up to Easter.
The word shrove, a form of the term shrive, means to have your sins forgiven, or to be cleaned or freed from sin before you begin the days of Lent. In the Catholic or Orthodox Christian tradition one goes to confession and the priest pronounces absolution. One is free from sin to begin the days of Lent.
There are any number of reasons given as to why pancakes but one is that making pancakes was a simple way to use up all the rich and fatty foods before Lent: eggs, butter, milk and flour all in one recipe. These foods would not be eaten during Lent but should not be wasted. Another tradition has it that these ingredients stood for the four pillars of Christianity: eggs for creation, flour for sustaining life, salt for wholesomeness and milk for purity. Most of us will know the French Mardi Gras, meaning Fat Tuesday. This refers to the Carnival celebrations which begin after Epiphany (the feast of the Kings) and end on Shrove Tuesday. Happy Shrove Tuesday!
The butter and eggs, they are good.
The glad songs of praise,
with both “Alleluias” and a bit of honey on our lips,
these are good.
There will come a time for fasting—but, wait.
First, let us praise butter,
how it enriches and enlightens our food,
how it causes us joy and gratitude.
Let us give thanks for the riches of life
and indulge in them honestly
before we turn from them
so that we might remember
that the fault is not theirs,
but only in our craving.
I shall eat pancakes today with deep mindfulness
so that I may say goodbye to them properly,
so that in the next forty days
I might learn attentiveness without them
and afterward return to such riches of life
not with selfish craving
but with reverence.
Let delight be the beginning and end
of my devotion.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes