{"id":3110,"date":"2024-02-15T19:36:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T19:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=3110"},"modified":"2024-02-15T19:37:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T19:37:15","slug":"blog-february-15th-shrove-tuesday-ash-wednesday-and-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=3110","title":{"rendered":"Blog February 15th Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Valentine\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Choristers from Winchester Cathedral in the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake d race in the Cathedral grounds with money raised going to local charities. (Photo by Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Love is Patient, Love is Kind featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album “Love is the Way” recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson<\/p>\n

Yesterday when Ash Wednesday and Valentine\u2019s Day fell on the same day was the first time since 1923 and 1934.
\nWhat are the histories of these two occasions and what about the day before \u201cShrove Tuesday\u201d or \u201cPancake Day?\u201d
\nThe expression Shrove Tuesday comes from the word shrive, meaning \u201cabsolve\u201c. It is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday\u201d which is the first day of Lent.<\/p>\n

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes. In others, especially those where it is called Mardi Gras it is a carnival day. Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent, because they are a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasizes eating simpler food, and refraining from food that would give undue pleasure: in many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs.
\nAsh Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to utter the words \u201cRepent, and believe in the Gospel\u201d or \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return\u201d. The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year\u2019s Palm Sunday celebrations. Because it is the first day of Lent, many Christians, on Ash Wednesday often begin abstaining from a luxury that they will not partake of until Easter Sunday arrives.
\nThere are a number of traditions associated with Valentine\u2019s Day. The devotional \u201cEvery Day With Jesus\u201d (now available as a free app) states:
\nThe tradition of sending Valentine\u2019s cards to loved ones probably comes from St Valentine of Rome, who defied the emperor who had forbidden soldiers to marry. Valentine would marry soldiers in secret. When discovered, he was sentenced to death and his prayer is believed to have restored the sight of the jailer\u2019s daughter. His final letter to her on 14th February was signed \u201cyour valentine\u201d and the tradition of card giving developed in the 18th century.
\nNext week more on the Arden Theatre (Titchfield Festival Theatre) v Fareham Borough Council saga.<\/p>\n

Quote of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Love is Patient, Love is Kind featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album “Love is the Way” recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson Yesterday when Ash Wednesday and Valentine\u2019s Day fell on the same day was the first time since 1923 and 1934. What are the histories of these two occasions and what about the day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ken-shearsmiths-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3110"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3115,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions\/3115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}