Faith at St Joseph's...

Our theme for Week 4 and 5  is Respecting the Dignity of every Human Being and building safe and supportive relationships. What a perfect theme for us this week

On Wednesday February 22nd, we celebrate the beginning of Lent with our Ash Wednesday liturgy in the afternoon.  

Tuesday 21st of February is Shrove Tuesday where the tradition is to make pancakes.

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. The name Shrove comes from the old middle English word 'Shriven' meaning to go to confession to say sorry for the wrong things you've done. Lent always starts on a Wednesday, so people went to confession on the day before. This became known as Shriven Tuesday and then Shrove Tuesday.

The other name for this day, Pancake Day, comes from the old English custom of using up all the fattening ingredients in the house before Lent, so that people were ready to fast during Lent. The fattening ingredients that most people had in their houses in those days were eggs and milk.

Ash Wednesday begins a holy season for many Christian religions. It marks the start of the 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays). This 40-day period is known as Lent..

Ash Wednesday is, of course, always on a Wednesday but it falls on different dates every year because its date is based around Easter. Easter is generally celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon that comes after March 21 (the Spring equinox)..

The name Lent is a shortened form of an Old English word that means 'spring' - fitting, because it always comes during the springtime. 

(Northern Hemisphere)