Shrove Tuesday is about beginnings and endings. In England, the word shrove (Old English scraf - confession) comes from the Christian custom of making confession of sin and receiving forgiveness, being shriven, on that day. As the day before Ash Wednesday, it marks the day of preparation for the beginning of Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. Shrove Tuesday also marks the end of Carnival (Latin carne - meat vale - farewell) or a period of general merrymaking (usually the three days before Lent) including Fastnacht in Germany and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in France and New Orleans, Louisiana where other terms and traditions have been added.

In Protestant Sweden the day is known as Fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday), the day before Lent when all fat and other perishables are customarily eaten. The little semla, buns filled with almond paste and cream, are a favorite dessert.

The theme of these observances is clearing away the old to prepare for the new. In Germany and France, a symbolic figure made of wicker or grass (Lord Carnival or the Spirit of Carnival) was often "sentenced" to death and cerermonially burned and buried (much as the old fields are burned off to prepare the ground for the new seed).

Similarly, the Jewish observance of Pesah ( Passover) which often coincides with Lent, begins with the meticulous search for, clearing out and destruction of old leaven, called hametz, to commemorate the flight from Egypt - which was undertaken by the Jewish people in such haste they could not wait for the bread dough to rise. The bread later cooked from the dough brought out of Egypt is unleavened bread - matzoh.

The spiritual significance of the Judao-Christian practice can be found in Proverbs 20:27 "The soul of a human being is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts." We search ourselves to remove negativities, we purify ourselves, we "give up" something.

If you’re anywhere near Hamtramk Michigan on Fat Tuesaday, (the little burg configured like the donut hole of Detroit) you might enjoy a Paczki, which is the special Polish name for a jelly donut.

Catch a flight. You still have time!

Lent is the practice of the Church. While the forty days is reminiscent of Noah, Moses, Elias and Jesus, the duration and observance is open to change. Penance the belief at the heart of the practice. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, "provided we suffer with him. (Catechism of Catholic Church 1460)

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8: 17)

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance… (Luke 3: 8)

The penance of abstinence, i.e., giving up is useful, but so is the penance of taking on-- taking on deeper commitment to prayer, charitable works, practice of virtues etc.

As for me, I take on a commitment to the desert. So I won’t be seeing you for a while.

I really am sorry for proselytizing. I shouldn’t have mentioned Hamtramk.

Ash Wednesday

I

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man’s gift and that man’s scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

T.S.Eliot

Similarly, the Jewish observance of Pesah (Passover) which often coincides with Lent, begins with the meticulous search for, clearing out and destruction of old leaven, called hametz, to commemorate the flight from Egypt - which was undertaken by the Jewish people in such haste they could not wait for the bread dough to rise. The bread later cooked from the dough brought out of Egypt is unleavened bread - matzoh.

It's Lent that often coincides with Passover, not the other way around. More accurately, it's Easter that often coincides with the 15th of Abib or Nisan, the first Day of Unleavened Bread, not the other way around. It's what became the Roman Catholic Church that distanced itself from, then set up a complex calendrical dance around, the "Jewish" Passover (which was, originally and biblically, on Abib 14 and not Abib 15) and Unleavened Bread (Abib 15-21). That (along with the basic difference between the lunisolar Hebrew and the solar Gregorian calendars) accounts for the chaotic overlaps or avoidances year by year between Lent/Easter and Passover/Unleavened Bread.

The Passover season (in the Hebrew Bible and for the apostolic Christian Church) is neither about self-denial nor about penance (it's about repentance, forgiveness and resulting freedom, which are much deeper), and it is preceded neither by a Carnival nor by a Lent. But let us start with some background. The reason why the bread was unleavened during the Exodus had nothing to do with self-denial as such. It had to do with the fact Israel was fleeing as fast as humanly possible from Egypt and its ways (maybe across the whole Sinai Peninsula to the Gulf of Aqaba, according to one fascinating theory). For that reason, it was "the bread of affliction" - not that the bread afflicted, but that the trial of the hurried flight caused the affliction and lack of rest that kept the bread unleavened.

In Hebrew Scripture, unleavened bread (especially in association with sacrifices) symbolizes sinlessness -- and one could argue thus with the apostle Peter that "he who has suffered in the flesh [in a particular way, as in the Exodus] has ceased from sin". For the original Christian Church, Paul points out that the symbolism of the bread (which Christians were still eating as part of their observance of Passover and Unleavened Bread) is not self-denial, but something quite other:

(1 Corinthians 5:6 KJV) Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

(1 Corinthians 5:7 KJV) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

(1 Corinthians 5:8 KJV) Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Bengel observes about the meaning of the Greek words: "Sincerity takes care not to admit evil with the good; truth, not to admit evil instead of good." So Proverbs 20:27's principle does apply, but it does not involve simply "giving up something". This comes from the pagan idea of penance - just as Lent and Easter originally came from paganism.

Out of respect for some here, and meaning no irony, I won't dwell on how the Lent/Easter season was subtly and then forcibily substituted (on pain of anathema and death) for Passover and Unleavened Bread in the Christian world via the Council of Nicea - other than to say just that much about what anyone can find out if so minded.

And one last quibble: why, oh why are the ancient Israelites called "the Jewish people" by so many? There weren't any "Jews" back then! The first time "Jews" are mentioned in the Bible, the "Jews" were fighting against "the House of Israel" and its Syrian allies. "Jew" began as a term for a citizen of "the House of Judah", in the latter days of the Divided Kingdom. The meaning of "Jew" changed step by step even in the Bible, and eventually included all the faithful in Israel that had returned from the House of Judah's Babylonian Captivity; but nowhere before latter-day Judaism (which reads its norms into the biblical past) does the term refer to the ancient Israelites or the keepers of their national religion.

(2 Kings 16:5 KJV) Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

(2 Kings 16:6 KJV) At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

I must be in a temper tonight - I'd better direct it to other pursuits.

wr ()()

Shrove Tuesday is about beginnings and endings. In England, the word shrove (Old English scraf - confession) comes from the Christian custom of making confession of sin and receiving forgiveness, being shriven, on that day. As the day before Ash Wednesday, it marks the day of preparation for the beginning of Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. Shrove Tuesday also marks the end of Carnival (Latin carne - meat vale - farewell) or a period of general merrymaking (usually the three days before Lent) including Fastnacht in Germany and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in France and New Orleans, Louisiana where other terms and traditions have been added.

Leaving aside the general disconnect in the mainstream-Christian mind between forgiveness of sins and "Christ our Passover" -- isn't the custom of Carnival followed by Lent (certainly as generally observed now) rather like the old joke about sowing one's wild oats on Saturday night and coming to church on Sunday morning to pray for crop failure?

One does need to "examine himself" before taking the New Testament Passover (cf. the last half of 1 Corinthians 11), and this is something we emphasize this time of year (as part of a broader context). But the idea -- to say more gently what might be said more pointedly -- is exactly the opposite of "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow...is Lent."

wr ()()

In peace and goodwill Rabbit, i appreciate the respect you have shown for others' religious structures. i hope that I may follow your good example...

The Passover season (in the Hebrew Bible and for the apostolic Christian Church) is neither about self-denial nor about penance (it's about repentance, forgiveness and resulting freedom, which are much deeper),

you make a stronger point about Lent, too, one that supports my assertions well. the practice is only to the service of the heart of the thing-- its meaning. you have articulated the meaning well. that persons often focus on practice instead of the heart of the thing is simply a repeat of pharisaical short-sightedness. it's nothing new in the scope of human failure. we are guilty of what we have always been guilty of.

This comes from the pagan idea of penance - just as Lent and Easter originally came from paganism.

Maybe so, Rabbit, but there is some service to truth in many pagan practice-- a truth that indicates that the Creator prepared All of Mankind-- not just the Isrealites-- for the Coming of the Messiah. While we admit some neutral pagan ritual retained for the purpose of good neighborliness (remember Peter eating all foods once considered unclean except for foods sacrificed to the gods?) we must also admit that Jesus Himself fasted (gave up) for 40 days in preparation of His public ministry. He likewise instructed that certain evils (demons) could ONLY be expelled through prayer and fasting.

Hence the heart of Lent.

Anathema and death were never necessarilly synonymous.Additionally, that any belief has been promulgated through coercion is a considerable breach of the Commandment "THou Shalt not take the Lord's Name in vain." Again, man is guilty as he's always been.

isn't the custom of Carnival followed by Lent (certainly as generally observed now) rather like the old joke about sowing one's wild oats on Saturday night and coming to church on Sunday morning to pray for crop failure?

yes. and hedonism as a prelude to penance/repentance is a scandal to the world.

that foodstuffs were to be used up to avoid waste makes good sense of stewardship.

Dear waltz,

Thank you for replying! For lack of time, I'll just dwell on one point that you mentioned, by backtracking to one of my paragraphs about it:

Out of respect for some here, and meaning no irony, I won't dwell on how the Lent/Easter season was subtly and then forcibily substituted (on pain of anathema and death) for Passover and Unleavened Bread in the Christian world via the Council of Nicea - other than to say just that much about what anyone can find out if so minded.

It is a matter of historical record that throughout the Dark and Middle Ages and even later, while the Holy Roman Empire dominated Europe, anathema by the religious hierarchy typically led to execution by the civil hierarchy. That's how the church-state combine worked -- and that's one reason why the Founding Generation of the U.S. overreacted and denied the viability or even the possibility of theocratic monarchy.

Was this combination of deeds done all the time? Not that I've ever heard. That combination was saved for particular times of perceived threat, and notably against Christians who dared teach and act as if Jesus Christ meant what He said here:

(Matthew 5:17 KJV) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

(Matthew 5:18 KJV) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

(Matthew 5:19 KJV) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 5:20 KJV) For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

I need to write a letter in reply to one of "our" readers about the implications of this passage -- but in this case, one who takes them more conservatively than even Jesus meant them to be. And so I must leave off here.

Good night, waltz, and best wishes.

wr ()()

If you’re anywhere near Hamtramk Michigan on Fat Tuesaday, (the little burg configured like the donut hole of Detroit) you might enjoy a Paczki, which is the special Polish name for a jelly donut.

waltz, what makes you think I need to fly to Michigan to eat a Paczki??!! Maryland has Polish bakers, too, ya know.......

Anyway, I lift my Paczki in salute and bid you adieu for 40 days. I shall miss you, but I know you are doing it for a Higher Cause. Meanwhile, the rest of us will muck around with the Lower Cause of Tuesday's Pinsky Picks.

Mary Ann

well Rabbit, you know that I would have more than a small quibble with you about:

1. the interpretation of these texts (as does one of your own, which is why i believe in the teaching authority of the Church, as in "But the Paraclete, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Jn 14: 26)

2. your purported application of the anathema.

nevertheless, you still cite corrupted practice, not core articles of faith. so i will leave off this line of disagreement with a question:

while we observe the forty day fast after Jesus' example and while there are several references to forty days (as I'd mentioned above) I am uncertain the significance of the number itself. God could have chosen any number of days to rain on Noah, to send Moses up, to send Jesus into the desert. why forty?

waltz, what makes you think I need to fly to Michigan to eat a Paczki??!! Maryland has Polish bakers, too, ya know.......

ah, but isn't Hamtramk the cultural center of the Polish world outside of Poland? as they say, "there are more Poles in Hamtramk..."

anyway....

Sto lat, sto lat, niech zyje zyje nam.
Sto lat, sto lat, niech zyje zyje nam.
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech zyje, zyje nam.
Niech zyje nam!

Good luck, good cheer, may you live a hundred years! (or at least 40something days till Easter!)

Btw, is there any chance you can do the OPP tomorrow? I've written to Denny about tomorrow, but have not heard back. So, any way you could possibly step in?

Many thanks. (I emailed you also). Are you giving up anything for Lent? :-) "L."

Oh, you're a tough one! What are YOU giving up for Lent, dare we ask? Comme toujours, fidelementE, "L."