Shrove Tuesday

The last day in Ordinary Time before the season of Lent begins

“The Eucharist is the sacrament of love. It signifies love, it produces love.” ~St. Thomas Aquinas

The Mass is the ultimate source of strength for our lives. Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. His last Passover meal was the first Mass. Jesus offered Himself freely as the perfect Sacrifice to the Father for our sins on Good Friday. At every Mass, we are made present at Calvary through the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus on the altar. Every time we participate in Mass and receive the Eucharist, our faith grows stronger, we receive greater peace of mind and soul, and we are better able to face the challenges in our lives. By going to Mass we are keeping that bond strong with God. (Here is a useful form to help in Explaining the Catholic Mass.) Every Sunday we are invited to receive the resurrected, glorified Christ in Holy Communion. Our Communion is a pledge and a promise that Christ will raise us from the dead if we are loyal and faithful to Him.

Today is Shrove Tuesday the last day in Ordinary Time before the season of Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Carnevale (Farewell Meat) was a time of feasting by consuming the meat, butter, cheese, eggs, and fat before the Lenten fast. Traditionally on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Tuesday) families would use this day for frying pastries as a means of using up the last of your oil, eggs, and other fats in the home before Lent. These food traditions created new ones over time and now we have celebrations like Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras we see in New Orleans.

The one traditional Lenten food is the pretzel. In the early Church the rules of fasting did not allow meat, dairy products or eggs. These small breads made from flour, water and salt were made to accompany the simple meals of fish, fruits and vegetables. Pretzels were a Lenten treat that was given to the children as a way to motivate them to learn their prayers. They began calling the treat “Pretiola”, which means “little reward” in Latin. The breads were shaped in the forms of arms crossed in prayer to keep a reminder that Lent was a time of prayer and penance. You can listen to a quick 2 minute story at the English Club A Pretzel is a Little Reward. Over time the word “pretiola” was replaced with “bracellae, or “little arms” likely as a result of the association of praying arms. Then as the treat was shared across Europe the word (and the bread itself) continued to change and we get our modern word “pretzel” from the German word brezel or prezel. One She Two She has a nice little lesson about Prayer Pretzels. Here is a good recipe to try for making your own Pretzels. This pretzel recipe is egg free is you choose not to use an egg wash on the outside. Brushing the pretzels with milk will also work to adhere the salt to them.

Every time you see a pretzel, remember this prayer: Dear God, We thank you for your son Jesus. We thank you for caring about us and loving us. Amen.

The Alleluia comes to us from Hebrew— Hallelujah and it means “praise Yahweh.” It is a term of great joy. We have a tradition of putting the Alleluia into the “tomb,” only to discover it again at Easter when the stone is removed and the Alleluia is “resurrected.” The practice of burying the Alleluia is a kind of fasting by letting the “Alleluia” lie dormant before the joyful affirmation of the Resurrection. The day the Alleluia returns is at the Easter Vigil, on the evening of Holy Saturday after sunset, when the priest chants a triple Alleluia before he reads the Gospel, and everyone present responds with a triple Alleluia. This is when families will bring the Alleluia back into the home and display it in preparations for Easter morning. You can read more about How to Bury the Alleluia Before Lent. We went to our backyard to bury our Alleluia in our garden box. The younger girls took turns digging a shallow hole to put our Alleluia board in. We printed off an Alleluia sign, had them color it, then we taped it to the board. We wrapped the board to protect it from water (we’ll see how well!) before placing it in the hole. If you would like to bury your own Alleluia you can do so in a less dirt in your yard way by folding up the paper and placing it under a few rocks in your yard. Catholic classrooms often bury the Alleluia under a pile of decorative rocks on the classroom prayer table. This can even work by putting the Alleluia under a houseplant. You get the idea.  

Prayer of the Week: We suggest for the older children to work on the Acts of…prayers. These tend to be the harder prayers to commit to memory as they do not quite have the poetic flow as many other prayers. While the prayers are not long they will require some effort.

Family Lent Activity Ideas: Pray the Stations of the Cross. Here are some great ideas about Doing the Stations of the Cross With Your Kids. Have your child color in the Stations of the Cross and use them every Friday during Lent.

A good start is a Good Deeds chart to keep kids looking for ways to help spread the love Jesus spoke about by offering their time for some extra responsibilities at home or in the community.

Making a Jesus Tree is a good activity for the family. The activities are designed to do as a family and the one part that seems to be a favorite of many families is the creation of a “Lenten tree” by using the book’s illustrations.

Plan your family meals for Fridays. Choose recipes for your Meatless Friday Meals during Lent.  Favorite pasta? Cream-based soup? PBJ or grilled cheese sandwiches? Let your kids choose the menu and talk about the sacrifice of giving up meat on Fridays.

Make a Salt Dough Crown of Thorns to display during Lent. Each time a member of the family offers a sacrifice, remove one of the “thorns.” On Easter morning decorate the crown with flowers. Some families choose to decorate the crown with flowers and ribbon and then fill the center with treats as an Easter morning treat for the children.

Check out the 20 out of the box things to do for Lent for some ideas.

Watch a movie! The Chosen is the first TV Series on the life of Christ. It can be streamed online through various providers. Frontline has a great two part documentary From Jesus to the Christ that was produced in 1998.

Read: Try a family devotion book. Welcome Risen Jesus, Bringing Lent Home with St. JPII, or 5 Minutes Lent Devotional for Kids.

We recommend reading about saints. There are many books to choose from that are for both children or adults. For children Mother Teresa: The Smile of Calcutta by Charlotte Grossetête. For adults: Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Personal Portrait: 50 Inspiring Stories Never Before Told by Fr. Leo Maasburg.

See our Lent Resources page for more ideas.