All church members are invited to attend our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper in the Great Hall on Tuesday evening, February 21. This is a come and go meal from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m. with a Mardi Gras theme. The Fellowship Ministry will be flipping pancakes for a pancake bar – all the pancakes will be plain pancakes, and you will be able to decorate your pancake with all sorts of delicious toppings. Coffee, juice, and bacon will also be provided. Cost: $4/person with a $15/maximum per family.
Here is a little history about Shrovetide, Shrove Tuesday and pancakes.
The last three days before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrovetide. The old names for these days were:
- Quinquagesima Sunday – Shrove Sunday. The fiftieth day before Easter
- Collop Monday – Shrove Monday. Named after the traditional dish of the day: collops of bacon served with eggs. In addition to providing little meat, the collops were also the source of the fat for the following day’s pancakes.
- Pancake Day – Shrove Tuesday. The day on which all fats and cream had to be used up.
Shrovetide was celebrated with games, sports, dancing and other revelries. There were feasts to use up the food that could not be eaten during the Lenten fast.
Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) is the last day before the period which Christians call Lent. This day is one of the moveable feasts in the church calendar and is directly related to the date on which Easter falls. Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9.
Where does the word Shrove come from?
The name Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess. On Shrove Tuesday, in the Middle Ages, people used to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began.
Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it’s the last day before Lent. Lent historically is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge, and to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.