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  • Shrove Tuesday

  • Shrove Tuesday is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday, which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes.

  • In others, especially those where it is called Mardi Gras or some translation thereof, this is a carnival day, and also the last day of

  • "fat eating" or "gorging" before the fasting period of Lent. This moveable feast is determined by Easter. The expression "Shrove Tuesday"

  • comes from the word shrive, meaning "absolve". Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists

  • and Roman Catholics, who "make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life

  • or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with."

  • Being the last day of the liturgical season historically known as Shrovetide, before the penitential season of Lent, related popular practices,

  • such as indulging in food that one sacrifices for the upcoming forty days, are associated with Shrove Tuesday celebrations,

  • before commencing the fasting and religious obligations associated with Lent. The term Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring

  • to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday

  • History

  • The tradition of marking the start of Lent has been documented for centuries. Ælfric of Eynsham's "Ecclesiastical Institutes"

  • from around 1000 AD states: "In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds

  • and the confessor shall so shrive him as he then may hear by his deeds what he is to do [in the way of penance]".

  • By the time of the late Middle Ages, the celebration of Shrovetide lasted until the start of Lent. Pancakes are commonly eaten on this day.

  • Since foods such as butter, eggs and fat are discouraged from being eaten during the Lenten season, Christians use these ingredients

  • during Shrovetide to make pancakes or other rich foods, such as fasnachts andczkis.

  • The specific custom of Christians eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday dates to the 16th century. Along with its emphasis on feasting,

  • another theme of Shrove Tuesday involves Christians repenting of their sins in preparation to begin the season of Lent in the Christian calendar.

  • In many Christian parish churches, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, a popular Shrove Tuesday tradition is the ringing of the church bells

  • "to call the faithful to confession before the solemn season of Lent" and for people to "begin frying their pancakes".

  • Terminology

  • [^] [^] The word shrove is a form of the English word shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of Confession and doing penance.

  • Thus Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the custom for Christians to be "shriven" before the start of Lent. In the United Kingdom, Ireland

  • and parts of the Commonwealth, Shrove Tuesday is also known as "Pancake Day" as it is a common custom to eat pancakes as a meal. Elsewhere,

  • the day has also been called "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras". In Germany, the day is known as Fastnachtsdienstag, Faschingsdienstag,

  • Karnevalsdienstag or Veilchendienstag, and celebrated with fancy dress and partial school holiday. Similarly,

  • in German American areas such as Pennsylvania Dutch Country, it is known as Fastnacht Day. In the Netherlands, it is known as "vastenavond",

  • or in Limburgish dialect "vastelaovond", though the word "vastelaovond" usually refers to the entire period of carnival in the Netherlands.

  • In some parts of Switzerland, the day is calleddisdienstag, preceded bydismontag. According to the Duden dictionary, the term derives from

  • "Güdel", which means a fat stomach full of fooddeldienstag. In Portuguese-, Spanish- and Italian-speaking countries, among others,

  • it is known as Carnival. This derives from Medieval Latin carnelevamen and thus to another aspect of the Lenten fast. It is often celebrated

  • with street processions or fancy dress. The most famous of these events is the Brazilian Carnival in Rio de Janeiro,

  • while the Venetians celebrate carnival with a masquerade. The use of the term "carnival" in other contexts derives from here. In Spain,

  • the Carnival Tuesday is named "día de la tortilla" : an omelette made with some sausage or pork fat is eaten. On the Portuguese island of Madeira,

  • they eat malasadas on Terça-feira Gorda which is also the last day of the Carnival of Madeira. Malasadas were cooked in order

  • to use up all the lard and sugar in the house, in preparation for Lent. This tradition was taken to Hawaii,

  • where Shrove Tuesday is known as Malasada Day, which dates back to the days of the sugar plantations of the 1800s,

  • the resident Catholic Portuguese workers used up butter and sugar prior to Lent by making large batches of malasadas. In Denmark and Norway,

  • the day is known as Fastelavn and is marked by eating fastelavnsboller. Fastelavn is the name for Carnival in Denmark which is either the Sunday

  • or Monday before Ash Wednesday. Fastelavn developed from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent,

  • but after Denmark became a Protestant nation, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday,

  • with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time

  • for children's fun and family games. In Iceland, the day is known as Sprengidagur and is marked by eating salted meat and peas. In Lithuania,

  • the day is calledgavėnės. People eat pancakes and Lithuanian-style doughnuts. In Sweden, the day is called Fettisdagen,

  • and is generally celebrated by eating a type of pastry called fastlagsbulle or semla. In Finland, the day is called laskiainen

  • and is generally celebrated by eating green pea soup and a pastry called laskiaispulla. The celebration often includes downhill sledging.

  • In Estonia, the day is called Vastlapäev and is generally celebrated by eating pea soup and whipped-cream or whipped-cream

  • and jam filled sweet-buns called vastlakukkel, similar to the Swedish fastlagsbulle or semla. Children also typically go sledding on this day.

  • In Poland, a related celebration falls on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and is called. In some areas of the United States,

  • with large Polish communities, such as Chicago, Buffalo and Michigan, Tłusty Czwartek is celebrated with or eating contests, music

  • and other Polish food. It may be held on Shrove Tuesday or in the days immediately preceding it. In Slovenia, Kurentovanje is also the biggest

  • and best known carnival. There are several more local carnivals usually referred to as Laufarija. In Hungary,

  • and the Hungarian-speaking territories, it is called and is celebrated by fancy dress and visiting neighbours.

  • Traditions

  • Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent, because they are a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar,

  • before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasizes eating simpler food, and refraining

  • from food that would give undue pleasure: in many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs. In Newfoundland

  • and Cape Breton Island small tokens are frequently cooked in the pancakes. Children take delight in discovering the objects, which are intended

  • to be divinatory. For example, the person who receives a coin will be wealthy; a nail indicates that they will become or marry a carpenter.

  • Festivities

  • [^] In the United Kingdom, as part of community celebration, many towns held traditional Shrove Tuesday "mob football" games,

  • some dating as far back as the 17th century.

  • The practice mostly died out in the 19th century after the passing of the Highway Act 1835 which banned playing football on public highways.

  • A number of towns have maintained the tradition, including Alnwick in Northumberland, Ashbourne in Derbyshire, Atherstone in Warwickshire,

  • St Columb Major in Cornwall, and Sedgefield in County Durham. Shrove Tuesday was once known as a "half-holiday" in Britain. It started

  • at 11:00am with the ringing of a church bell. On Pancake Day, "pancake races" are held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom.

  • The tradition is said to have originated in 1445 when a housewife from Olney, Buckinghamshire,

  • was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house

  • to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake, tossing it to prevent it from burning.

  • The pancake race remains a relatively common festive tradition in the UK, especially England. Participants

  • with frying pans race through the streets tossing pancakes into the air and catching them in the pan while running. The pancake race

  • at Olney traditionally has women contestants who carry a frying pan and race over a 415-yard course to the finishing line.

  • The rules are strict: contestants must toss the pancake at the start and the finish, and wear a scarf and apron. Since 1950 the people of Liberal

  • and Olney, both in Kansas, US, have held the "International Pancake Day" race between the two towns.

  • The two towns' competitors race along an agreed-upon measured course. The times of the two towns' competitors are compared

  • to determine a winner overall. After the 2009 race, Liberal was leading with 34 wins to Olney's 25.

  • A similar race is held in North Somercotes in Lincolnshire, England. Scarborough celebrates by closing the foreshore to all traffic,

  • closing schools early, and inviting all to skip. Traditionally, long ropes were used from the nearby harbour. The town crier rang the pancake bell,

  • situated on the corner of Westborough and Huntriss Row. Since 1996 a replica "pancake bell" situated at Newborough and North Street has been rung

  • to initiate the day's festivities. The children of the hamlet of Whitechapel, Lancashire keep alive a local tradition by visiting local households

  • and asking "please a pancake", to be rewarded with oranges or sweets. It is thought the tradition arose when farm workers visited the wealthier farm

  • and manor owners to ask for pancakes or pancake fillings. In Scandinavia, in particular in Finland and Sweden, the day is associated

  • with the almond paste-filled semla pastry. Thin pancakes called blini are traditional in Christian festivals in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia also

  • at this time of year. In London, the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race takes place every Shrove Tuesday, with teams from the British lower house,

  • the upper house, and the Fourth Estate, contending for the title of Parliamentary Pancake Race Champions. The fun relay race is

  • to raise awareness of Rehab, which provides a range of health and social care, training, education, and employment services in the UK

  • for disabled people and others who are marginalised.

  • Dates

  • Shrove Tuesday is exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday, a moveable feast based on the cycles of the moon. The date can be any between 3 February

  • and 9 March inclusive. Shrove Tuesday occurs on these dates:

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