As far as Tuesdays go in a calendar year, today is a big one: "Shrove Tuesday," which for many means a pancake supper before the 40 days of Lent begin tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.
Advent Lutheran Church at 179 Thompson Dr. will host a pancake supper for congregants and the larger community between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., says Rev. Leslie-Elizabeth King, a United Church minister who does double duty these days ministering to the spiritual and temporal needs of both Advent and nearby St. John's United Church at 52 Caribou Rd. Donations will be accepted for the meal.
She advises people to check around if they wish because other churches may also be offering Shrove Tuesday pancake suppers today.
The historical reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs are eaten by the devout. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast.
Pancakes and doughnuts are an efficient way of using up these perishable goods. The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance.
Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving or confession that Anglo-Saxon Christians made immediately before Lent, a season of soul-searching and repentance.
Holy Thursday is not liturgically a part of Lent in the Roman Catholic Church, although it is still reckoned as part of the "40 days of Lent," because the paschal triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday and concludes with the evening vespers of Easter. The triduum includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and reaches it high point at the Great Easter Vigil. The name "Maundy" comes from the Latin antiphon Mandatum Novum, meaning "a new mandate." The new mandate from Jesus is taken from John 13:34: "Love one another as I have loved you."
In many mainline Protestant churches, Maundy Thursday is still liturgically part of Lent since many do not recognize the triduum as distinct from Lent.
In regards to fasting and abstinence during Lent, Patrick Fletcher, senior theological advisor to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Ottawa, told the Thompson Citizen "particular regulations vary in each country according to the norms established by national Episcopal conferences (and approved by the Holy See), it is not always easy to know what regulations are in force.
"Very simply, the norms for Canada are (based on the 2010-11 Ordo):
* All Fridays are days of abstinence from meat, but Catholics may substitute special acts of charity or piety on this day;
* The Paschal Fast is observed on Good Friday and, where possible, continued through Holy Saturday;
* Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting and abstinence from meat;
* The law of abstinence from meat binds those who are 14 and older; the law of fasting binds those from 18 to 59 years of age.
While the Canadian Bishops have placed "particular insistence on Fridays of Lent" as days of penance, Fletcher says, "the manner of fulfilling this duty is left to the discretion of the faithful." (National Bulletin on Liturgy, 42 - from the 1966 statement of the CCCB on Penance).
Don't fill up completely at a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper today, however, if you're planning on celebrating International Women's Day as well. The Thompson Crisis Centre and the Thompson YWCA are inviting you to a "multicultural potluck celebration in honour of International Women's Day" from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the YWCA Dining Room 39 Nickel Rd.
In many countries, today marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
"Bring your own cultural dish and wear clothes of your culture" and learn about Thompson's diversity, organizers say, adding there will be "cultural entertainment galore!"
On March 8, 1908, after the death of 128 women trapped in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, 15,000 women workers from the garment and textile industry marched for safe working conditions, shorter working hours, an end to child labour and equal pay.
Their slogan of "Bread and Roses" rang out as they sang marching through the streets: bread, the symbol of economic security and roses, the symbol for a better life.
In 1910, The Second International held an International Women's conference at "Folkets Hus" (The People's House) in Copenhagen during which Clara Zetkin, the German Social Democrat, launched the idea of an International Women's Day.
The first International Women's Day was celebrated in many countries on March 8, 1911, with the theme of "Universal Female Suffrage." The focus was the movement for women's rights and achieving universal suffrage for women. International Women's Day really took hold between 1913 and 1917 when women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.
In December 1977, two years after International Women's Year in 1975, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.
Bon appétit!
