What's the origin of pancake day?

From Wiki

Wikipedia said:
The origin of the name Shrove lies in the archaic English verb "to shrive" which means to absolve people of their sins. It was common in the Middle Ages for "shriveners" (priests) to hear people's confessions at this time, to prepare them for Lent.
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~J~ said:
Does this mean Jesus gave up pancakes for 40 days then?
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Jesus gave up everything for 40 days.

The Christians copied this in some form or another (nowadays people just give up chocolate or whatever, which isn't quite the same) during lent to prepare for Easter. They had a big meal on Shrove Tuesday to finish up their flour and whatnot and ate pancakes.

That's my understanding of it, anyway.
 
vonhelmet said:
Jesus gave up everything for 40 days.

The Christians copied this in some form or another (nowadays people just give up chocolate or whatever, which isn't quite the same) during lent to prepare for Easter. They had a big meal on Shrove Tuesday to finish up their flour and whatnot and ate pancakes.

That's my understanding of it, anyway.
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I agree with most of what you say. However, the 40 days of lent is a rather strange calculation. I aways accepted that there were 40 days between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday, because I was told that as a kid. Last year, I counted them; it's 46 days, not 40. I mentioned this to a (practising Christian) friend, and his comment was that Sundays are not included.

So, does the fasting for Lent exclude Sundays? Did Jesus give up everything for just the 40 days, and do what he liked on Sundays?

Anyone got any answers?
 
Long story short:
In the 15/16th Century a woman was making pancakes (using up food forbidden during lent) when suddenly she remembered confessions. She ran to the church with the frying pan still in her hand. Supposedly.
 
Drawoh Tesremos said:
I agree with most of what you say. However, the 40 days of lent is a rather strange calculation. I aways accepted that there were 40 days between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday, because I was told that as a kid. Last year, I counted them; it's 46 days, not 40. I mentioned this to a (practising Christian) friend, and his comment was that Sundays are not included.

So, does the fasting for Lent exclude Sundays? Did Jesus give up everything for just the 40 days, and do what he liked on Sundays?

Anyone got any answers?
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Yeah, I've sometimes wondered that. I've also heard people say that it excludes sundays, but I don't really know.
 
Drawoh Tesremos said:
I agree with most of what you say. However, the 40 days of lent is a rather strange calculation. I aways accepted that there were 40 days between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday, because I was told that as a kid. Last year, I counted them; it's 46 days, not 40. I mentioned this to a (practising Christian) friend, and his comment was that Sundays are not included.
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There are two Lents: Orthodox Lent is actually forty days long and starts next monday - you get no days off in Orthodox Lent. The Catholics and Protestants use a different Lent on which you get Sundays off because Sunday is the Lord's Day and should always be a celebration.
 
tenchi-fan said:
Long story short:
In the 15/16th Century a woman was making pancakes (using up food forbidden during lent) when suddenly she remembered confessions. She ran to the church with the frying pan still in her hand. Supposedly.
Click to expand...
This is the origin of the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Bucks.

Nobody knows just how long people have been making and eating pancakes but you could almost call the flat bread made by primitive families twelve thousand years ago, a pancake. Pancakes were made by grinding grains and nuts and adding water or milk. This mixture was then shaped into flattened cakes and baked on the hot stones surrounding the fire.

I suspect that the making and eating of pancakes has always been much the same… a noisy, stimulating, exhilarating, greedy, happy time. Pancakes just seem to affect people that way. So it's not too surprising that two happy events for people… pancakes and festivals are often linked together.

Perhaps the best known one is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the beginning of fasting in Lent. On this day (so the historians say) there were feasts of pancakes to use up the supplies of fat, butter and eggs... foods that were forbidden during austere Lent.

In England there arc several celebrations on this day but perhaps the best known one is the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Buckinghamshire which has been held since 1445. The race came about when a woman cooking pancakes heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, and thus without knowing it, started a tradition that has lasted for over five hundred years.

According to the current rules, only women wearing a dress, no slacks or jeans, an apron and a hat or scarf, may take part in the race. 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. Cool!
 
Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for the Paschal Triduum. The 40 days are counted from the First Sunday of Lent until Holy Thursday. (Lent ends on Holy Thursday.) The four days between Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday are an introduction to the season. The evening of Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday Evening is known as the Triduum.

The idea that Sundays aren't included is because children off sweets for lent are allowed by their parents to break lent on Sunday (and St. Patrick's day!)
 
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