Happy Shrovetide!!

Today's Sunday School Lesson included pancake treats & juice, costumes, beads, masks, pancake races and learning about Shrovetide, Mardi Gras & Lent... and also WHY PANCAKES??

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, forty days before Easter. The four day period before Ash Wednesday is known as "Shrovetide," from an old English word "shrive," meaning "to confess," a name gotten from the tradition of going to Confession in the days before Lent started. Shrovetide is traditionally the time for "spring cleaning," just as we clean our houses in these days in prepation for Lent, we also "clean our souls" through confession so we can enter the penitential season fresh.
Lent was a period of fasting, with meat, eggs, dairy produce & wine forbidden. Shrovetide was a time for a last fling before Lent - a time to play games & use up the meat, eggs & butter.

The Tuesday of Shrovetide is a particularly big party day known as "Mardi Gras" (French for "Fat Tuesday") or "Pancake Tuesday" because fats, eggs & butter in the house had to be used up before Lent began, making pancakes or waffles was a good way to do it.

In many places, especially in England, pancake races became popular & remain popular today. In these races, women must run while flipping a pancake so many times, whoever crosses the finish line first wins. The largest pancake race in England is in Olney, in Buckinghamshire. There, the women must wear a dress, apron & bonnet, and flip the pancake three times -- while ensuring it is intact after they cross the finish line.

The story told to explain the origins of this race is that in 1445, a homemaker heard the shriving bell (rung to summon people to confession) as she was busy working in her kitchen. Not wanting to be late, she rushed & ran off with her skillet still in hand.

Our Church is having it's Annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on Feb. 24th from 5 - 7 p.m. All you can eat pancakes, sausage, applesauce, juice or coffee or milk. Freewill donation goes toward a planned Youth Event open to the community this summer. ALL ARE WELCOME, please join us! (Contact me for more info.)