Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent

Dear WISDOM Subscribers:


Plans are in full swing for our March 30th WISDOM event (10:30 AM – 2:30 PM) with the Sisterhood of Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park entitled “A Day of Learning – Women in Judaism.” Join us for interfaith dialogue during lunch and a wonderful educational experience. Please send your checks made out to WISDOM for $18.00 to Judy Satterthwaite, 1250 Dutton Road, Rochester, MI 48306 by March 19th.

I’m sure that many of you have read in the papers or heard in the news that today is Fat Tuesday. What is this all about? Please read the explanations below for help in understanding the Christian holidays of Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent.

Gail Katz, WISDOM President


Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras, the festival New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous for. "Gras" is French for fat and "Mardi" is French for Tuesday. The annual festivities start on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany, when the three kings are supposed to have visited the Christ Child, and build to a climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which always occurs on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is February 6th. The parties and parades will continue until Lent begins at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday (February 5th).

Shrove Tuesday is the term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia to refer to the day before Ash Wednesday. 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. This day is also known as Pancake Tuesday, because it is customary to eat pancakes on this day. The 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 may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself. In Hamtramck, there is an annual Paczki-Day (Fat Tuesday) Parade, and lines at bakeries can be seen up to 24 hours before the deep-fried delights go on sale Tuesday morning. Many bars in town open early in the morning, and provide free entertainment, a party atmosphere, and Paczki-clad mascots. Prunes are considered the traditional filling, but many others are used as well. In other parts of the world, such as historically Catholic and French-speaking parts of the United States – this day is called Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is a legal holiday in New Orleans. It is scheduled to occur 46 days before Easter. Since the actual date Easter occurs on changes yearly, Mardi Gras can happen on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. For two centuries it has been an annual event in New Orleans, except during the two World Wars.

Below is an explanation of Ash Wednesday and Lent written for the members of St. Hugo of the Hills Roman Catholic Church in Bloomfield Hills.

Tomorrow Feb 6th is Ash Wednesday and is the beginning of the season of Lent. We spend forty days of prayer and penance each year as a time for renewal, discipline, spiritual regeneration and growth. Lent is also the season in which the church evangelizes and reconciles her own members. The church joins in prayer and teaching with all the catechumens (people receiving instruction to pursue full membership in the church) as they undergo an intense period of preparation for their initiation into the church. Indeed, as the catechumens prepare for their first Baptism during the coming Easter, the rest of the church, prepare to renew our own Baptismal commitment. Each year at this time we try to realize that we are called to participate in the life of the Church by dying and rising with the Lord Jesus in the Easter Mystery. We are called to be transformed but such a transformation can only be achieved if we accept this season as a time of personal prayer and discipline wherein we put ourselves in God’s hands. We have to be willing to let him shape our lives, our values, our thoughts, our attitudes and our own personal destinies.

How Might We Put These Beliefs into Action During the Lenten Season

Here are several examples of how someone might work on renewal, discipline and spiritual regeneration:

1. PRAY PRIVATELY. Start with a few minutes a day in a private place and a moment to center yourself in Christ. Discover in prayer what is His will is for you. Ask Him to allow you to see clearly what you must do in faith and have the strength to do it. Encourage other family members to do the same and then let them alone to do it. Keep your thoughts as private as a conversation with God should be.

2. PRAY PUBLICLY. Seek out and participate in liturgies and special Lenten services, from the Stations of the Cross to daily Mass. Share your overflow of grace with your second family—your parish family…particularly in the way you participate in Sunday liturgies.

3. MAKE YOUR SACRIFICES A POSITIVE AFFIRMATION. Make certain that you understand that Lent is not only a time in which we “Do without” it is also a time in which we “Do for”. Don’t stop at material denials. Offering up a favorite show or Sunday morning coffee is nothing compared to giving up the pleasures of having the last word or being infallible. At least once a day refrain from saying” I told you so”, “I knew I was right” and “It wasn’t my fault”. For the next forty days, we should all try to keep our mouths shut and our hearts open.

4. GIVE OF YOUR TIME. Give of yourself. Give of your time, energy, effort, ear, and heart unsparingly. Give without counting the cost or reward. Work in whatever capacity you are needed. If you don’t know where you are needed, ask for God’s guidance to lead you there. Scripture tells us often that we find Christ most clearly by serving those who are in need.

5. GIVE OF ALL YOUR MATERIAL BLESSINGS. Be good Stewards of the goods of the earth. Give of your money and do so without expecting anything in return. Learn that tithing is a gift given to us in Scripture. Sit down with your family and determine a percentage of your income that will go to the Church and a percentage that will go to other charities. The key is to determine a specific percentage that you know you will offer and when you make your offering, do it in the same way that you imagine Christ would…entirely out of love.

6. BE ACTIVELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENTIRE WORLD. We live in a small specific world. But the Church calls us to ministry that is universal. Read, listen, learn, and become involved in making a more Christ-like life by working for Gospel values in politics, the environment, world hunger, peace, pro-life issues, nuclear power, armaments dispersal etc. We have heard so much about these topics that they lose their meaning for many people. This Lent, make them real. Remember that the bottom line is this: We are all one family trying to make a just and loving home out of this world.

7. KEEP A JOYFUL SENSE OF HUMOR. Don’t let your imperfections or lapses…or those of others…get you down. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t be here. Wear a face that says “Be of good cheer”. Secret, silent martyrs only make martyrs out of those who have to live with them. Keep a cheerful countenance and have a serene heart…one that says in attitude “all is well…all is very well”.