Our Lady of the Way students, staff, and invited guests were treated to a pancake breakfast in the gymnasium on Feb. 24 in celebration of Shrove Tuesday.
Shrove Tuesday (also known as Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras) is the day before Ash Wednesday—the beginning of Lent.
Since Lent is a time of abstinence, traditionally of meat, fat, eggs, and dairy products, Shrove Tuesday’s menu of pancakes was designed to use up all the fat, eggs, and dairy products left in the kitchen and storeroom.
In some cultures, it is traditional to eat as much as possible on Shrove Tuesday—sometimes up to 12 times a day.
In many traditions, Lent is a time for cleaning—a preparation for Easter and spring. First your soul, then your kitchen, then the rest of the house was cleaned and purified of the past year’s accumulations.
Old clothes are mended and new clothes purchased at this time of year. In the Ukraine, houses were whitewashed inside and out during Lent. In this way, everything was made ready to face the season of salvation and rebirth.
Traditions of spring cleaning stem from this religious observance.
With last Wednesday (Feb. 25) being Ash Wednesday, students were dismissed to attend Mass at Our Lady of the Way Church.
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