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Shrove Tuesday

Traditionally the day when we confess our sins in preparation for Lent. In England also called pancake day, because we clear our larders of foods customarily forbidden during Lent (e.g. fat, eggs) and make pancakes of them. In some places there is the tradition of Carnival or Mardi Gras, with feasting and revelry before the solemn Lenten fast which follows. In monasteries there is a wide divergence in practice. We have heard that among our Bavarian brethren, carnival is enjoyed with true Germanic thoroughness and some specially good beer; among our Solesmes brethren, by contrast, there are two days of fasting and prayer in reparation for the excesses of the carnival period. Here in Hendred we adopt a very English via media. The level of disspation in community is fairly low, amounting to no more than sausages and pancakes and a relaxation of the rule of silence for the day; but it marks a contrast with Ash Wednesday and is a reminder that feast and fast are two aspects of the same thing. We are not yet disembodied spirits: the life of prayer cannot be separated from the life of virtue, the joy of the Holy Spirit must inform and transform every human joy.