Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras- What’s it all About?

Pancake Day is a tradition at St. Thomas Anglican Church.

It falls on the day before Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar. Because the actual date is determined by that of Easter, for which the date varies each year, you have to watch for it.

The name “Shrove Tuesday” comes from the word “shrive” which originated in the Middle Ages, meaning absolution or forgiveness of sins achieved through penance. The day gets its name from the Christian tradition of striving to be “shriven” (forgiven) before the period of Lent. Pancake Day came much later, as a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the 40 days of fasting during Lent. This period is a solemn religious observance focussing on preparing the believer for Easter by way of prayer, penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial. Today this event is observed by the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches.

Dating back to 1975, St. Thomas has hosted an annual pancake supper of sausage, soup, juice, fruit salad and sometimes pie along with all the pancakes you can eat, drenched in pure maple syrup. Success depends entirely on the weather. We have experienced extreme cold temperatures, ice storms and sever snow storms of the years, but our faith is undaunted as we persevere, year after year. This year we added some Mardi Gras flavour by presenting strings of beads to each person. We are already looking to February 13th, 2018. See you then.

By Clarke Mayhew

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