ARE YOU READY FOR LENT?
All of us have said, I am giving that up for Lent. It could be traditional things like meat, butter, sugar, eggs, milk and fish or it could be more modern items like ice cream, chocolate, cell phones, internet or television(like that’s going to happen). According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as a preparation for Easter. Every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christ’s resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday (6 days) during 6 weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday (4 days) in the preceding week, thus making up the number of 40 days.
Depending on what date Easter is, in any given year,( that’s another story,) Lent can start as early as the 4th of February and as late as the 10th of March. This year it is the 10th of February, which is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. To get ourselves prepared for Lent we start with Shrove Tuesday.
What is Shrove Tuesday? The concept behind this practice is found in 1 Corinthians 9:27 , where the Apostle Paul states; “I buffet my body and make it my slave.” Ironically, Shrove Tuesday has evolved into a day of frivolity and indulgence, during which people participate in as much pleasure and self-gratification as they can ( think about the dozen donuts you will probably eat.) Originally, Shrove Tuesday was a three day celebration that started on Sunday and ended on Tuesday night with a large feast. By the 20th century however, the event was restricted to the Tuesday observance. It was about this time that Carnival became associated with Strove Tuesday, in part from the Spring Equinox celebrations that were practiced by the Romans and the ancient tribes of Europe. The word “carnival” comes from the Latin carmem levare, meaning “ to take away the flesh”. Public revelry and carousing became the tradition for Carnival around the world and as a result the Church restricted the observance to a single day. For Anglicans, the name Shrove Tuesday is derived from the word “shrive” which means to confess and receive absolution. The name denotes a period of cleansing wherein a person brings their lusts and appetites under subjection though abstention and self-sacrifice.
There is a variety of customs that have derived from different regions around Europe and the Americas.
England began the tradition of serving pancakes and for this reason the day is known as “Pancake Day”. It was a good way to use up as much milk, fat, and eggs as possible before Ash Wednesday. In the UK pancake races form an important part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations. It is a opportunity for large numbers of people to race down streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finish line first, while carrying a frying pan and flipping a pancake as you run. It all started in 1445, a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell (a church bell rung to call people to confession) while making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. The Olney pancake race is now world famous.
In Germany the day is called Faschingsdienstag and is filled with parties, parades, people in outlandish costumes and of course eating. Germany is where the fastnacht comes from, it is a very sweet raised dough that is fried and covered with sugar. Here in the U.S., the fastnacht is usually the same as a glazed donuts but a true fastnacht has no hole and is usually square.
In Eastern Europe and in many South American countries it is Carnival, the most famous being in Rio De Janiero. Participants in parades, parties and balls wear masks and costumes many that are quite flamboyant and elaborate. Rio has a parade of multi-colored feathers, which include hundreds of dancers dressed in costumes decked with feathers, all dancing the samba. The day is filled with eating, drinking, fortune telling and practical jokes.
We can thank France for Mardi Gras which means Fat Tuesday. This is when all of the fat and fatty foods are consumed before Ash Wednesday. The most famous Mardi Gras is in New Orleans with all the balls, parties and parades but you will find Mardi Gras being celebrated all over the south and even here at St. Andrew’s.
Then at midnight the parades are over, the parties end and Ash Wednesday starts. It is the first day of Lent and the beginning of forty days of fasting. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. Some churches still sprinkle ashes on top of the head but in modern day churches a cross is marked on the worshipers forehead. You can learn more about the Episcopal service for Ash Wednesday in the BCP on page 264.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.
As written in the BCP , page 265.
Have a Holy Lent.