As I continue on my faith journey this year with deepening and strengthening my faith, I have decided to take a deeper look into Lent and Easter. I didn’t think I knew a lot about Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent and I surprised myself because I knew most of what I have researched. There were some interesting things I learned though!
I wanted to share this post before Lent began because I have decided to see if anyone would like to join us on our Lenten journey! As discussed below, I have decided to do a meatless Lent this year! I have created a calendar of meals from Shrove Tuesday all the way to Easter. The FREE download for meatless meals is available at our store! I have also included a FREE grocery checklist. The checklist is written in 2 week intervals since I grocery shop every 2 weeks generally. The calendar is a daily dinner meatless meal recipe with the recipe directly linked in the calendar. I also give recipe ideas for breakfasts, lunches, alternative dinner ideas, and some of our favourite dessert recipes! The checklist is a list of ingredients for the meals for the 2 weeks indicated. This way you can go through your cupboards and see what you have and what you may need to buy. This is also going to be a great way to introduce a ton of new meals to your family!
What I have learned
shrove tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is known by many names: Pancake Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Carnival, and Mardi Gras. It originated as Shrovetide which is the name of the week leading up to Ash Wednesday. People could indulge a little in a last celebration before Lent. They could indulge in the extras because Pope St. Gregory wrote that we should abstain from eating meat, anything made from animals such as milk, butter, and eggs, and abstain from fats. One thing to make for a feast that included all of these ingredients was pancakes and that is where the tradition comes from.
However, we are also called to partake in confession before Lent begins because Lent is a time of penance and partaking in extra prayer times. “To shrive” means to hear confession and we are called to go to confession so we can remember the things we have done wrong and over the time of Lent, truly repent for our mistakes.
In 1748, Pope Benedict XIV began the tradition that is continued today called the “Forty Hours of Carnival” to try to take back the tradition of “Carnival”. Over the years, Shrovetide’s last indulgences grew to become an enormous party which consisted of excessive indulgences. It was no longer a time of plays to educate of Christ’s teachings and his Passion or to make pancakes to use up the last of those ingredients before Lent. It became a big party of excessive pleasures without any of the traditional parts. So, to restore the penitential nature of Shrovetide, Pope Benedict XIV exposed the Blessed Sacrament in churches during these forty hours or three days before Ash Wednesday. Parishioners can go and adore the Blessed Sacrament and offer up extra prayers and atonement. Pope Benedict XIV also granted plenary indulgence to anyone who partook in the “Forty Hours of Carnival”.
Observences
Ways that you can observe Shrove Tuesday are:
- going to confession;
- eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday;
- offering up extra prayers over Shrovetide, Ash Wednesday, and Lent;
- partaking in the “Forty Hours of Carnival” even if for an hour;
- partaking in Stations of the Cross of Friday’s;
- Observe and do various penitential tasks to overcome weakness and atone for our sins;
- Since Alleluia is something that is taken away during this time, you can paint an Alleluia sign and hide it in the house until Easter, or have the kids colour Alleluia signs and bury them in the yard or snow on Shrove Tuesday.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is the day in which anyone, including non-Christian’s, can receive ashes on their foreheads. This symbolizes grief and the grief that we have sinned and caused division from God. It reminds us where we came from and where we will return: “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth.
The ashes from Ash Wednesday are actually made by burning the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday and then they are blessed. If someone in your family cannot make it to Mass that day, you are allowed to bring the ashes home to them! Ashes are a symbol of penance and help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. They also remind us that God is gracious and merciful to those who call upon Him with resentful hearts. We are to seek God’s mercy during Lent through reflection, prayer, and penance.
Observances
Ways you can observe Ash Wednesday:
- Go to Mass and receive the ashes on your forehead;
- Fast for the day and abstain from eating meat;
- Traditionally it is inappropriate to dine out, to shop, or to go out in public. Some people take the rest of the day off from work and stay home;
- Purple is the colour for the Lenten season so if you have a prayer corner in your home, you can get it ready with a purple cloth or add purple accents to your table to help you observe Lent.
Lent
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday. It is a time of reflection, prayer, and penance. We are supposed to fast during Lent and abstain from eating meat. Forms of penance can include giving up something that you enjoy doing or that is easy for you to do. You should also be adding in something that will bring you back to your spirituality and faith. Stations of the Cross are observed each Friday during Lent.
Lent is traditionally a time to go back to our Baptism and understand the commitment we took when we were Baptized. Easter is a time in the Church when Catechumens (candidates for Baptism) have their Baptism and Lent is the final time of preparation for this. According to catholic.org: “Lent as a 40-day season developed in the fourth century from three merging sources. The first was the ancient paschal fast that began as a two-day observance before Easter but was gradually lengthened to 40 days. The second was the catechumenate as a process of preparation for Baptism, including an intense period of preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation to be celebrated at Easter. The third was the Order of Penitents, which was modeled on the catechumenate and sought a second conversion for those who had fallen back into serious sin after Baptism. As the catechumens entered their final period for Baptism, the penitents and the rest of the community accompanied them on their journey to renew their baptismal vows at Easter.” Catholic.org has a great FAQs About Lent article if you want to know more about Lent!
how we are observing lent
There have been a few years the we Amell’s have actually partook is being vegan or at least vegetarian for Lent! I find it amusing now because that is actually a very traditional thing to do! This year, after learning about this and looking through my freezer for meal ideas for the next few days, I have actually discovered we are running low on meat. So! I think we are going to observe this tradition again this year! We are going meatless for Lent! It is quite a difficult feat for me to make meals that do not include meat, so I think this will be a great challenge for myself for Lent. I can offer up prayers and devotion when I get frustrated or when making meals becomes more of a task over Lent, I can offer this up to God. I also plan to add more prayer time in, make it to daily Mass at least once a week, focus on praying as a family and saying the rosary as a family, partaking in faith discussions as a family, and trying to bring Lent and Easter back to being a time of personal reflection, prayers, and penance.
We sat down together this morning and discussed with the boys all the way that Josh and I plan to observe Lent. Jonathan decided he wanted to give up technology for Lent and add in more family time. Joshua is not too sure what he wants to give up besides school! He wants to also add in more family time with a focus on a family game night.
I want to give them ways that they can observe Lent in their own way, perhaps with some crafts in mind. One thing I have thinking about is drawing a tree on pieces of paper, and then we can cut out different coloured leaves that they can glue onto the tree. One colour can signify kind deeds; one colour can signify an act of penance; one colour can signify personal prayer or them saying the rosary; and one colour can signify family prayer time or family faith discussions. They can write what they did on the leaf and glue it on the tree during Lent. Then we can aim to have an extremely leafy, colourful tree by the end of Lent! I think if we all did that, then it would be a fun way to tie in the concepts of Lent together with a fun “craft”.
Sources
- https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5877
- https://www.teachingcatholickids.com/shrove-tuesday-and-ash-wednesday/
- https://www.catholic.org/lent/ashwed.php
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