Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)

Shrove Tuesday 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 to Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9. Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it’s the last day before Lent.

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, 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. 

What happens on Shrove Tuesday in England?

Pancakes are eaten and pancake races are held in villages and towns. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it whilst flipping the pancake a pre-decided number of times. The skill lies not so much in the running of the race but in flipping and catching the pancake, which must be intact when the finishing line is reached.

Tossing Pancakes (Pancake Racing)

The most famous one takes place at Olney. According to tradition, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. The Olney pancake race is now world famous. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf. Each contestant has a frying pan containing a hot, cooking pancake. She must toss it three times during the race that starts at the market square at 11:55 am. The first woman to complete the winding 375-metre course (the record is 63 seconds set in 1967) and arrive at the church, serve her pancake to the bellringer, and be kissed by him, is the winner. She also receives a prayer book from the vicar.

Annual Pancake Grease

At the famous Westminster School in London, the annual Pancake Grease is held. A verger from Westminster Abbey leads a procession of eager boys into the playground where the school cook tosses a huge pancake over a five-metre high bar. The boys then race to grab a portion of the pancake and the one who ends up with the largest piece receives a cash bonus from the Dean.

Skipping

In Scarborough, on Shrove Tuesday, everyone assembles on the promenade to skip. Long ropes are stretched across the road and there maybe be ten or more people skipping on one rope. The origins of this customs are not known but skipping was once a magical game, associated with the sowing and spouting of seeds, which may have been played on barrows (burial mounds) during the Middle Ages.

Interesting Fact

The world’s biggest pancake was cooked in Rochdale in 1994, it was an amazing 15 metres in diameter, weighed three tonnes and had an estimated two million calories.

Ash Wednesday

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. It’s a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast. Ash Wednesday is six and a half weeks before Easter Day.

Why is it called Ash Wednesday?

Ashes were used in the past as a symbol of being sorry. Christians rubbed ashes on their foreheads. They wanted to show God that they were sorry for the wrong things they had done in the past year.

What happens on Ash Wednesday today?

Some Christians have a tiny smudge of ashes put on their foreheads as a sign of sorrow at not having been good over the last year.

What are the ashes made from?

In churches the priest first burns the palm crosses that have been kept from last year’s Palm Sunday and then mixes the ashes of these crosses with holy water (which has been blessed) to make a greyish paste. When people go to church on Ash Wednesday, the priest dips his thumb in the paste and uses it to make the sign of the cross on each person’s forehead.

What do the ashes symbolise?

Using ashes to mark the cross on the believer’s forehead symbolises that through Christ’s death and resurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.

Lent

Lent is a Christian Festival.

The forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter is known as Lent. This is the time of year in England when the days begin to lengthen with the coming of Spring. The weeks of Lent were once the time when new Christians, who were to be baptized on Easter Eve, were taught about the Christian faith and life. Those who had already been baptized thought again about the promises they had once made and promise to be true to them. Lent was a time for spring-cleaning lives, as well as homes.

When does Lent begin?

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the day after Pancake Day and, six and a half weeks before Easter Day. The last week of Lent begins with Palm Sunday, which celebrates the day Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people lay down palms at His feet.

When does Lent end?

Lent lasts for 40 days and ends the day before Easter Sunday, on Holy Saturday.

Why does Lent last for 40 days?

The 40 days mark the 40 years of the Israelites going through the desert and the traditional 40 days of Jesus fasting in the desert.

What happens during Lent?

During Lent Christians used to fast (give up food) but nowadays people try to give up something like chocolate.

Lent is a time when Christians remember the 40 days and nights Jesus spent alone in the desert without food being tempted by the Devil. Jesus used this time to prepare for His work by fasting and praying.

Many churches hold special Lent services. In some towns the churches of different denominations join together in groups to discuss and share their Christian faith. Lent is the time when Christians prepare for Easter by thinking of things they have done wrong.

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in Britain on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century. Mothering Sunday is the middle Sunday of the fasting period of Lent (which lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter), so it was also known as “Refreshment Sunday” or “Mid-Lent Sunday”. Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. In 2006, Mothering Sunday falls on March 26.

What happens on Mothering Sunday in England ?

Mothering Sunday is a time when children pay respect to their mothers. Children often give their mothers a gift and a card. Many churches give the children in the congregation a little bunch of spring flowers during the Mothering Sunday service, to give to their mothers as a thank you for all their care and love throughout the year.