5:00 Dinner – Fellowship Hall
Reservations are needed. Click here to register.
Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) occurs the first Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It officially ends the season of Epiphany and is the vigil for the starting of Lent. Traditionally viewed as a day of repentance, Shrove Tuesday has become the last day for celebration and feasting before the period of fasting required during the Lenten season. The name “Shrove Tuesday” is derived from the word “shrive”, which means to confess and receive absolution. The name denotes a pe-riod of cleansing, wherein a person brings their lusts and appetites un-der subjection through abstention and self-sacrifice. Shrove Tuesday originated during the Middle Ages. Food items like meats, fats, eggs, milk, and fish were regarded as restricted during Lent. To keep such food from being wasted, many families would have big feasts on Shrove Tuesday in order to consume those items that would inevi-tably become spoiled during the next forty days. The English tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday came about as a way to use as much milk, fats, and eggs as possible before Ash Wednesday began. In France, the consumption of all fats and fatty foods on this day coined the name “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras