In the Middle Ages, especially in Northern Europe and England, it became the custom to confess one’s sins on the day before Lent began in order to enter the penitent season in the right spirit.įrom the earliest days of Christianity, Lent, the penitential period before Easter, has always been a time of fasting and abstinence. Shrove is the past tense of the word shrive, which means to hear a confession, assign penance, and absolve from sin. Since Shrove Tuesday is the same day as Mardi Gras, you can find the date of Shrove Tuesday in this and future years in When Is Mardi Gras?
( See The 40 Days of Lent and How Is the Date of Easter Calculated?) The earliest date that Shrove Tuesday can fall is February 3 the latest is March 9. Since Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter Sunday, Shrove Tuesday falls on the 47th day before Easter. That is why Shrove Tuesday is also known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras ( which is simply French for Fat Tuesday). But over the centuries, in anticipation of the Lenten fast that would begin the next day, Shrove Tuesday took on a festive nature. Shrove Tuesday is a reminder that Christians are entering a season of penance and was originally a solemn day.
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Christian Church throughout the world.
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