Promises, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday explained

1. Explaining next week and the special days we are about to enter.
Shrove Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
St Mary’s Catholic Primary
Teresa Rush 2014

2. What is Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day that precedes Ash
Wednesday. As it is determined by Easter the
actual date changes on an annual basis.
With Lent on the way and 40 days of fasting and
religious obligations, Shrove Tuesday provides
one last opportunity to splurge a little and eat
whatever you want.

3. Shrove Tuesday – Also known as Fat
Tuesday – Madi Gras
Why do Christians call the day 'Shrove
Tuesday'?
The name Shrove comes from the old word
"shrive" which means to confess. On Shrove
Tuesday, in the Middle Ages, people used to
confess their sins so that they were forgiven
before the season of Lent began.

4. Why pancakes?
Pancakes are now forever associated with
Shrove Tuesday as it is a sort of all-in-one way of
using up some fatty foods before Lent.
Eggs, milk and sugar aren't traditionally eaten in
fasting season, so need to be scoffed
beforehand.

5. What are we doing here at St Mary’s
Wonderful students from our Parish are selling
Pancakes on Tuesday.
Please order as you would sausage sizzle
$1 per pancake
Fundraiser for
World Youth Day

6. Promises
All students in the school on Monday will be
writing promises to God. These are called their
Lent promises, they remind us to be more like
Jesus. Traditionally many people ‘give things up’
for lent, we also encourage ‘taking things up’
such as supporting Caritas, Being nice to people,
phoning a lonely family member more and such
like.

7. Promise Ceremony
During the promise ceremony students offer up
their promises to God with prayer and
reflection.
These promises are then burnt for ashes.

8. What we try to do better in Lent:
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving
The three traditional pillars of Lenten
observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
The key to renewed appropriation
of these practices is to see their link to
baptismal renewal.

9. Lent is a time for:
Prayer: More time given to prayer during Lent should
draw us closer to the Lord.
Fasting: Fasting is one of the most ancient practices linked
to Lent. Fasting is more than a means of developing selfcontrol. It is often an aid to prayer, as the pangs of hunger
remind us of our hunger for God.
Almsgiving: It should be obvious at this point that
almsgiving, the third traditional pillar, is linked to our
baptismal commitment in the same way. It is a sign of our
care for those in need and an expression of our gratitude
for all that God has given to us

10. Ash Wednesday
In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday
is the first day of Lent, the season of preparation
for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter
Sunday.
Many different Christian Churches celebrate Ash
Wednesday and Lent

11. Ash Wednesday
Why do we put ash on our forehead?
Ashes are applied to our forehead in the sign of the cross as the
words, "Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return"
are spoken to us. The other formula which is used, "Turn away
from sin and be faithful to the Gospel" emphasizes our call to
continual conversion and holiness of life. This act symbolizes our
mortality as well as our need for ongoing repentance. It is a
reminder that this life is short and merely a foreshadowing of
what we shall become through the redemption of Jesus Christ on
the cross. The work of our redemption will not be complete until
we are raised from the dead, in resurrected bodies like His own
and called to the eternal communion of heaven.

12. CARITAS Lent Appeal
The theme for the Lent 2014 Appeal is Open up a
Horizon of Hope, taken from Pope Francis'
Inauguration Homily, where he said:
Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of
hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To
protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look
upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of
hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds;
it is to bring the warmth of hope!
The Lent Appeal is run by Caritas on behalf of New
Zealand’s Catholic Bishops to support our work of
charity and justice for the world's poorest – in New
Zealand and overseas.

13. Lent Appeal At St Mary’s
We ask students to give up some “lolly money” and
give to the appeal.
Special ‘thinking of others days’ eg. Rice lunch for
middle school – money raised will be put into the
fund.
This year the money will go to assisting in the
Solomon Islands.
For more information visit www.caritas.org.nz

14. Join us in prayer
Please feel welcome to join us in our liturgies:
Tuesday 4th March
Promise Ceremony – 10am, school hall
Wednesday 5th March
Ash Wednesday -10am, St Mary’s Church

15. Credits
• http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uknews/pancake-day-2014-you-need3170237#ixzz2uaZx56Jy
• http://projectbritain.com/shrove.html
• http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/faq.php
• http://www.caritas.org.nz/lent
• http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/qt/
whatisashwednes.htm
• http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandhol
idays/p/Ash_Wednesday.htm