17 February 2026 is Shrove Tuesday, the traditional day for eating pancakes before the start of Lent. This is the story …
Meaning of Shrove
The word “shrove” comes from the Old English verb “to shrive”, which means to hear confession and pronounce absolution.
The term derives from Old English “scrīfan”, which is rooted in ecclesiastical Latin “scriber”, meaning to scribe, and refers to the act of hearing confession, assigning penance, and granting absolution.
The tradition arose to provide a day of confession before entering Lent. In medieval Europe, Christians would go to church on the Tuesday before Lent began in order to confess their sins and then be “shriven” before the Lenten fast began. Shrove Tuesday was thus a day of confession and the last day of feasting before fasting. The period before Lent became known as Shrovetide.
During Lent, people would fast by not eating meat. These days, it is more customary to deprive oneself of a luxury or habit, whether that be television, chocolate, alcohol, or social media.
Confession is not meant to be about morbid self-reflection and guilt, but about receiving mercy. John wrote that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Historically, to be “shriven” meant not just to admit sin, but also to hear the promise of forgiveness.
Church Customs
Various customs arose in the medieval Church connected to Shrove Tuesday. In many congregations, church bells were rung — called the “shriving bell” — to call people to confession, or, as people joked, to remind them to start frying their pancakes. The palms kept from the previous year’s Palm Sunday processions were burnt on Shrove Tuesday to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
Pancake Day
Originally, Lent was a strict fast from rich foods such as eggs, butter, and fat. Therefore, households would try to use them all up on the day before and make pancakes. In Britain and Ireland, and parts of the Commonwealth like Canada, Shrove Tuesday is colloquially known as “Pancake Day”, when families use up eggs, milk, and butter to make pancakes. In Spain, there is “Día de la Tortilla”, or Omelette Day, instead.
The village of Olney in Buckinghamshire is famous for its pancake races, when women of the town run through the streets with frying pans while tossing pancakes, and then finish at the parish church door. This tradition goes back to the fifteenth century but has since been taken up in other places, like Liberal, Kansas, in the USA.
Carnival
In some parts of the world, Shrove Tuesday is associated with carnivals. The word “carnival” comes from the Latin expression “carne levare”, which roughly means to leave meat, indicating fasting. In parts of Italy, especially in Venice, grand carnivals called “carnevale” are held on the Tuesday before Lent. In Germany, it is called “Faschingsdienstag”, or Carnival Tuesday. In the Netherlands, the carnival day is called Vastenavond (meaning Eve of the Fast). Carnival often involves dressing up in elaborate costumes and street processions. The largest carnival is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In some places, festivities continue until midnight, and in some countries the following day, Ash Wednesday, is a public holiday, effectively to recover.
Mardi Gras
Meanwhile, in French-speaking lands, the day is commonly called “Mardi Gras” (which literally means “Fat Tuesday”) because it is the last chance to eat crêpes, waffles, and fried pastries before Lent. In the USA, Mardi Gras took root among French settlers in New Orleans, Louisiana, where it took on a life of its own.
Biblical Basis
While Shrove Tuesday is not commanded in Scripture, it does gather up several biblical themes. The biblical basis for this is a call to self-examination before God, such as: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23–24). God repeatedly calls his people to return to him through repentance: “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning” (Joel 2:12–13). There is also a call to ongoing repentance, such as in, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19).
Summary
Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent. It gives you the chance to think about what you could live without for the next forty days, which will benefit your spiritual life and faith. It is good to know the story of Shrove Tuesday in order to explain the religious significance of the tradition to others. Pancake Day may be a fun tradition, but we are reminded by St Paul that, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
