Why pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?

Shrove Tuesday (today) is the day before Ash Wednesday (tomorrow, this year), which is the beginning of Lent. The name ‘shrove’ comes from the old Middle English word ‘shriven’, meaning to confess and to say sorry for the wrong things we’ve done. Lent always starts on a Wednesday, so people went to confession on the day before. This became known as Shriven Tuesday.

The other name for this day is Pancake Day. This comes from the old English custom of using up all the fattening ingredients (milk, eggs and butter) in the house before Lent. A simple recipe to use up these ingredients was to combine them with some flour and make pancakes! Traditionally seen as a day of repentance, Shrove Tuesday has become the last day for celebration and feasting before the period of fasting required during the Lenten season. People used to fast from eating meat, fats, butter, eggs, milk and fish during Lent, but this has changed over the generations to fasting from coffee, chocolate, sweets, alcohol or anything considered a bad habit.

When people give up something during Lent, they should also take up something godly – prayer, devotions, meditation. To give up is good, but then we also need to take up something better. The Lenten season is a time of reflection as to what God has done through his Son Jesus in suffering, dying and rising again for us, so that we might enter heaven to be with our Father.

Lutheran Tract Mission has many tracts explaining the traditions and foods of Lent and Easter. Search the categories ‘Food’ and ‘Lent/Holy Week’ to share the different meanings behind certain traditions.

Don’t forget to print off your Lenten Devotional ‘Hope for our Future’ and read these through the Lenten season. You can also find the link on the homepage of the Lutheran Tract Mission website: www.ltm.org.au

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer.