Three Traditions for Shrove Tuesday
The night before Ash Wednesday goes by many names:—Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras—but all of these celebrations mark the same occasion: one last hurrah before Lent begins. There are so many ways to celebrate, but below are three of my very favorite Shrove Tuesday traditions. (Hint: I save the best for last.)
P.S. If you haven’t already check out the Little Way Lenten Calendar with 40 faithful family practices for each day of Lent, you can download it at the end of this post!
Let Them Eat Pancakes
Eating pancakes for supper on Shrove Tuesday originated in 16th century Britain—the idea being that Lent is a season of fasting, and as such, everyone better get rid of all the butter, eggs and sugar in their house before it begins. If your church doesn’t have a pancake supper, host your own. It’ll never get easier to cook dinner for people than pancakes!
One completely ridiculous and hilarious game for a pancake supper is to have a pancake relay race. Teams of people race around the house or fellowship hall holding a pancake on a pan. If the pancake drops, they go back to the beginning. As I said, totally ridiculous, but hilarious, and a great intergenerational activity.
Burning the Palms
Did you know that the ashes for Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday? (This merely confirms my assertion that every good party ends with a bonfire.) How fitting is it that the palms used to hail Jesus into Jerusalem to his death are the ashes used to remind us of our own mortality? If you have palms from last year’s Palm Sunday service (many churches will weave them into crosses for folks to hang at home throughout the year), now is the time to dispose of them and this is the way to do it!
Bidding Farewell to Alleluia
“Alleluia” is an exclamation that means '“Praise the Lord!” and is used throughout the Psalms as a shout of joy. Because Lent is a penitential season, one of somberness, the church omits Alleluia from it’s liturgy during this 40 day period. The fast is broken with the opening words of the Easter liturgy (at least in the Anglican tradition) on Easter morning: “Alleluia! Christ is risen!”
One way to mark this turn in seasons and change in liturgy is by symbolically “burying the Alleluia” on Shrove Tuesday or the Sunday before Lent begins. This is done by rolling up a banner that reads Alleluia and placing it in a box and physically burying it in the ground, or by simply keeping it hidden or veiled. I love the visual reminder of placing it in a box and burying it in the ground as we turn towards Lent, a time when we consider this very same fate for ourselves, and when we are especially mindful of burying our sins.
A church I worked for in North Carolina had a wonderful tradition of the children decorating a large paper banner that read ALLELUIA each year at the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper. We would pray a short litany, symbolically bidding farewell to the Alleluia, and then it would be hidden away for all of Lent. The banner would reappear on Easter morning as the “starting tape” for the children to run through at the Easter Egg Hunt. I love the way this brings everything full circle.
Whether you create your own banner or have one that you reuse everyone year as Easter decoration, you can mark the occasion with the simple litany below:
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Reader: Psalm 150
Alleluia! Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Alleluia! Praise the Lord!
Leader: Lent is a somber time, a period of 40 days when we walk with Jesus in the wilderness, remembering our mortality and putting to death the sin we have come to hold so dearly. This is not an easy or pleasant thing to do. But we know that when we walk with Jesus, we become more like him. And so, it is right that for this season, we say goodbye to the Alleluia—a shout of joy—and put it away until we return again to our Easter exaltation.
The banner is rolled up while singing the hymn below or another appropriate Alleluia song.
Hymn: “Praise Ye the Lord”
Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia! Praise ye the Lord!
Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia! Praise ye the Lord!
Praise ye the Lord, Alleluia!
Praise ye the Lord, Alleluia!
Praise ye the Lord, Alleluia!
Praise ye the Lord!
Prayer: Almighty God, we give you thanks for this shout of joy you have placed in our hearts. As we bury this banner, we pray that you will bury our sins with it, making us more like your Son this Lenten season. Amen.
Get 50% off this guide with a Little Way Family Membership.
Imagine how beautiful it would be to spend 40 days establishing gentle and joyful rhythms of prayer, fasting, and giving with your family—practices that will last far beyond the Lenten season. The Little Way Lent guide for families takes the guesswork out of Lent, giving you one simple practice per day to do as a family. It also includes loads more if you want to dive deeper:
A history of Lent
An overview of the “three pillars of Lent”: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving
A guide for kicking off Lent on Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras)
A lesson introducing Lent to children
A printable card for each day of Lent with a simple spiritual practice to deepen your family’s Lenten journey. Each practice draws from one of the three traditional pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting or Giving
Detailed notes for daily practices, explaining the history and theology behind it
Prayer card prints
Please note: This product is a 50 page digital download for personal use only. Churches, schools, and generous friends can purchase a group license here.
Save by purchasing the Little Way Lenten Guide and Holy Week Guide as a bundle!
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User-friendly: Just download, print, and go!
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Family-friendly: Geared towards families with children ages 3-12, but easily adaptable for all ages.
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