Who celebrates Ash Wednesday?

[GKC]

That’s great; your parish is a gem

Comes with the 1928 BCP.

GKC

 

[JonNC]

Anyone remember the ‘Gesima Sundays’ when pre Lent immediately followed the Feast of the Transfiguration? I don’t think the crucifix/ statues were veiled but flowers were subdued/ purple vestments/ paraments.

I remember as a child the “Gesima” Sundays. I sang in the Junior Choir, and we always sang the Graduals from the old Service Book and Hymnal. Each Gesima had a different Gradual. I still remember them.

Jon

 

[jimkhong]

Actually, sorry, no , Ash Wednesday is NOT a Holyday of Obligation in the UK.

If you go to the website of the Catholic Bishops if England and Wales (just google 'holydays of obligation UK) the only HDOs for the UK are listed, and Ash Wednesday is not among them.

Are you in Scotland? Perhaps it is different there.

I believe that Ash Wednesday is not a holyday of obligation anywhere, as with Good Friday. The reasons are historical.

All Sundays are days of obligations and designated holydays of obligation are designated so as they are considered ‘little Sundays’ in the middle of the week. As such, they are treated like Sunday, when you attend the liturgy. The liturgy for those days are also structured like Sundays - 3 readings at mass, the evening before is treated as Evening Prayer 1, etc.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday were orginally both aliturgical days (Good Friday still is). They are also both days of fasting and since you don’t fast on Sundays; therefore they aren’t ‘little Sundays’. Originally, Ash Wednesday service concludes after the service of the ashes following the readings. I am not sure when Ash Wednesday became a full mass - does anyone know?

 

[jimkhong]

I am not sure “celebrate” is a good term for the first day of a period of penance?

I will be celebrating Tuesday with a good meal at my favourite pub.

Wish I am in Rio or new Orleans though. Nothing like a good carnival to say good-bye to meat.

 

[EvangelCatholic]

I will be celebrating Tuesday with a good meal at my favourite pub.

Wish I am in Rio or new Orleans though. Nothing like a good carnival to say good-bye to meat.

Good to hear from you jimkhong.

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday but I am not exactly clear why Lutherans eat pancakes on that day.

 

[Rawb]

Good to hear from you jimkhong.

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday but I am not exactly clear why Lutherans eat pancakes on that day.

Very old Western tradition. It’s because it used up a lot of the non-Lenten foods, back when your fasting was more similar to ours. Pancakes use up milk, eggs, and butter. Sometimes buttermilk or cream too. It’s a good way to get rid of the last bits of dairy that are laying around.

For those who might know I’m curious. Are the -gesima Sundays similar to our Pre-Lenten preparations of Meatfare and Cheesfare? Two weeks before Lent is the last week to eat meat, and then the week before is the last week to eat dairy. Do they stem from the same…thing? period? time? Are both traditions rooted in the same preparatory type of Sacred Time is what I’m trying to ask and coming up with a failure in language to do so lol.

 

[liturgyluver]

Good to hear from you jimkhong.

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday but I am not exactly clear why Lutherans eat pancakes on that day.

It’s not just Lutherans - pancakes on Shrove Tuesday are a custom across all Christian denominations in the UK, Australia, NZ and Canada. It was associated with using up rich foods before the Leneten fast. es

 

[GKC]

Very old Western tradition. It’s because it used up a lot of the non-Lenten foods, back when your fasting was more similar to ours. Pancakes use up milk, eggs, and butter. Sometimes buttermilk or cream too. It’s a good way to get rid of the last bits of dairy that are laying around.

For those who might know I’m curious. Are the -gesima Sundays similar to our Pre-Lenten preparations of Meatfare and Cheesfare? Two weeks before Lent is the last week to eat meat, and then the week before is the last week to eat dairy. Do they stem from the same…thing? period? time? Are both traditions rooted in the same preparatory type of Sacred Time is what I’m trying to ask and coming up with a failure in language to do so lol.

Yes, generally. AFAIK, the “Gesimas” originated in the Gregorian Rite, and were dropped after VII, mostly.

Anglicans who follow the Prayer Book Calendar, 1662 and 1928, at least, still observe them. Hence, so do Anglican Use parishes.

Could be wrong.

GKC

 

[Tzimisce]

I celebrate Lent.

I have for a very long time.

 

[EvangelCatholic]

Yes, generally. AFAIK, the “Gesimas” originated in the Gregorian Rite, and were dropped after VII, mostly.

Anglicans who follow the Prayer Book Calendar, 1662 and 1928, at least, still observe them. Hence, so do Anglican Use parishes.

Could be wrong.

GKC

Being too lazy to look it up, could you clarify why pre-Lent was dropped from the Church Calendar after Vatican II?

 

[EvangelCatholic]

I celebrate Lent.

I have for a very long time.

Is there a pagan connection with Lent?

 

[GKC]

Being too lazy to look it up, could you clarify why pre-Lent was dropped from the Church Calendar after Vatican II?

Being too ignorant to know, all I can say is it’s why there is Ordinary Time; the weeks are numbered ordinally, though some bear Feast titles…

A local may know more.

GKC

 

[andrewstx]

Good to hear from you jimkhong.

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday but I am not exactly clear why Lutherans eat pancakes on that day.

I will be having pancakes Shrove Tuesday as well, and beer. I think the tradition came from Britain. At least it is popular with Episcopalians.

 

[GKC]

I will be having pancakes Shrove Tuesday as well, and beer. I think the tradition came from Britain. At least it is popular with Episcopalians.

I’m not Episcopal. I will, however, be bringing the sausage for the pancake Supper.

GKC

 

[EvangelCatholic]

I will be having pancakes Shrove Tuesday as well, and beer. I think the tradition came from Britain. At least it is popular with Episcopalians.

I think American Lutherans borrowed the pancake customs from Episcopalians but maybe we should follow our ancestors and follow these dietary customs:

In Denmark and Norway the day is known as Fastelavn and is marked by eating fastelavnsboller. Fastelavn is the name for Carnival in Denmark which is either the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday, with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time for children’s fun and family games. (see Carnival in Denmark)
In Iceland the day is known as Sprengidagur (Bursting Day) and is marked by eating salted meat and peas.
In Lithuania the day is called Užgavėnės. People eat pancakes (blynai) and Lithuanian-style doughnuts called spurgos.
In Sweden the day is called Fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday) and is generally celebrated by eating a type of pastry called semla.
In Finland the day is called laskiainen and is generally celebrated by eating green pea soup and a pastry called laskiaispulla (sweet bread filled with whipped cream and jam or almond paste). The celebration often includes sledging.
In Estonia the day is called Vastlapäev and is generally celebrated by eating pea soup and whipped-cream filled buns called vastlakukkel.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday

 

[gnosisofthomas]

Anyone remember the ‘Gesima Sundays’ when pre Lent immediately followed the Feast of the Transfiguration? I don’t think the crucifix/ statues were veiled but flowers were subdued/ purple vestments/ paraments.

We still do the season of Septuagesima in our tradition, although for us it’s not a penitential season. We focus on the Holy Spirit for the three Sundays leading up to Lent, so the liturgical color is red. We celebrate the Transfiguration on August 6th though, so Septuagesima usually happens somewhere around the Feast of Holy Valentinus.

For Ash Wednesday, we have a Mass that includes the solemn imposition of ashes with the words, “Remember, O soul, that thy body is dust, and unto dust it shall return.” These words are a reminder that the body is not immortal, so we turn our attention inward to that which is immortal. Lent isn’t so much a time for penance for our sins in our tradition, the focus is more on self-reflection so that in quiet and somber prayer, we may receive the instruments for rising above the lower self, and participate in the redemption of the world through the Christ.

We also include the Gloria all year long, however during the two penitential season we say it, rather than sing it. I asked my priest about that once (I used to be Roman Catholic, so I was used to omitting it altogether), and he basically explained that while we still have cause to rejoice during a penitential season, we’re actually more inclined to think about what it is we’re saying when we break from the singing we’re so used to.

 

[EvangelCatholic]

We still do the season of Septuagesima in our tradition, although for us it’s not a penitential season. We focus on the Holy Spirit for the three Sundays leading up to Lent, so the liturgical color is red. We celebrate the Transfiguration on August 6th though, so Septuagesima usually happens somewhere around the Feast of Holy Valentinus.

For Ash Wednesday, we have a Mass that includes the solemn imposition of ashes with the words, “Remember, O soul, that thy body is dust, and unto dust it shall return.” These words are a reminder that the body is not immortal, so we turn our attention inward to that which is immortal. Lent isn’t so much a time for penance for our sins in our tradition, the focus is more on self-reflection so that in quiet and somber prayer, we may receive the instruments for rising above the lower self, and participate in the redemption of the world through the Christ.

We also include the Gloria all year long, however during the two penitential season we say it, rather than sing it. I asked my priest about that once (I used to be Roman Catholic, so I was used to omitting it altogether), and he basically explained that while we still have cause to rejoice during a penitential season, we’re actually more inclined to think about what it is we’re saying when we break from the singing we’re so used to.

Very interesting. Are Gnostic Christians part of a denomination?

 

[gnosisofthomas]

Very interesting. Are Gnostic Christians part of a denomination?

There are different Gnostic churches out there, but mine’s the Ecclesia Gnostica… We grew out of the Liberal Catholic Church, so a lot of our traditions are the same.

 

[andrewstx]

I’m not Episcopal. I will, however, be bringing the sausage for the pancake Supper.

GKC

For what it’s worth I am not an Episcopalian either. I left TEC long before all the schisms began and the continuum as well. At the time the only Episcopal break away was the Reformed Episcopal church which I would have never considered.

But I do have my doubts about all the so called “Anglican” bodies in the U.S.A. The only church in the U.S. that actually belongs to the Anglican Communion is the much derided by the right Episcopal church. For what it’s worth.

But I still have friends who are Episcopalians and always will. The only local church in the ‘continuum’ is called Christ Church and I can’t go with them either. They are a far right congregation with guitars and charismatic worship. Blech.

I am not far right because I think that everyone matters and not just the wealthy.

 

[jimkhong]

It’s not just Lutherans - pancakes on Shrove Tuesday are a custom across all Christian denominations in the UK, Australia, NZ and Canada. It was associated with using up rich foods before the Leneten fast. es

If you want to talk about pancakes, then the proper day is Pancake Tuesday. As it orignated from England, it is common throughout most of the English-speaking world.

Shrove Tuesday is really Confession Tuesday as the word Shrove comes from the word shrive, meaning to confess.