Ash Wednesday

Lent is the period of forty days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar, traditionally a time of fasting and reflection. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and begins with Ash Wednesday.

Lent

Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.

The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking. Whatever the sacrifice it is a reflection of Jesus' deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline.

Why 40 days?

40 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture:

• In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.
• The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.
• Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.
• Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.

Most Christians regard Jesus' time in the wilderness as the key event for the duration of Lent.

Why is it called Lent?

Lent is an old English word meaning 'lengthen'. Lent is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent starts: the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.

Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day.

But there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Penitence

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them.

When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them.

Shrove Tuesday celebrations

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent.

Giving up foods: but not wasting them

During Lent there are many foods that some Christians - historically and today - would not eat: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods.

So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without *going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras ('fat Tuesday'). Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

The origin of pancake racing

Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. A woman had *lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen.

Suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to call the faithful to church for confession. The woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death and sorrow for sin.

Symbolism of the ashes

The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each churchgoer that:

• Death comes to everyone
• They should be sad for their sins
• They must change themselves for the better
• God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

Where the ashes come from

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palm crosses that were blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday.

Source: bbc.co.uk/religion 

Powerful people also mark their foreheads with ash.

Today the Burial of the Sardine was also held. Can anybody explain this weird tradition? What happens? How did it all start?

Yesterday was Pancake Day. What food do you associate with other holidays and celebrations?

Idioms:

"A woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen."

lose track of time: to forget / not realise what time it is / how long you have been doing something, usually because you are so absorbed in an activity.

• I'm sorry I'm late. I had so much work today that I lost all track of time.
• I didn't leave until about 2 a.m. The conversation was so interesting that I lost all track of time.

You can also lose track of friends.

• I've lost track of my classmates. I haven't seen them since I left home. (I don't know where they are nor what they are doing)

When do you lose track of time? Why? Have you lost track of anybody? Would you like to get back in touch with them?

Phrasal Verbs:

"Families would eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.".

go off: used to describe food or drinkyou can't eat or drink because it is too old.

• Every week I throw away so much food because it has gone off.
• It is such a waste.What's that smell in the fridge? Something must have gone off.

We can use off after other verbs connected to food:

• The milk smells off. Throw it away.
• Is this yogurt off? It's been in the fridge for ages.

How much food do you throw away? What kind of food usually goes off?