Tuesday, February 20, 2007 AD
Goodbye meat, hello pancakes
Cross-posted, with comments enabled, at www.confessingevangelical.com. Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds.
Today is Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. "Pancake Day" (hooray!). Fr Patrick Reardon provides some interesting background information about the day:
Of course, this is a great illustration of the contrast between the English and those of more, ah, southern European temperament. In countries with a more Latin spirit, this is a day for flamboyant partying, parades, music and general uproar. In England, it's a day for eating pancakes, and (crucially) for being really excited about doing so...
Today is Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. "Pancake Day" (hooray!). Fr Patrick Reardon provides some interesting background information about the day:
The day before [Ash Wednesday] is called Shrove Tuesday because of the custom of making one's confession of sins before the beginning of the Lenten fast. (To "shrive" means to cleanse.)I hadn't realised that's where the word "carnival" came from. Fascinating.
Among the less devout, however, Shrove Tuesday became an occasion of feasting sumptuously, partying, and general whoop-di-doo. It is irreverently called "Fat Tuesday", Mardi Gras in French. Numerous individuals that have not the slightest intention of maintaining a Lenten fast nonetheless observe Mardi Gras with a celebration called "carnival", a word derived from the Latin expression carni vale, meaning "goodbye to meat"!
Of course, this is a great illustration of the contrast between the English and those of more, ah, southern European temperament. In countries with a more Latin spirit, this is a day for flamboyant partying, parades, music and general uproar. In England, it's a day for eating pancakes, and (crucially) for being really excited about doing so...
Labels: church year, englishness, it's a fascinating fact
