Shrove is from the Anglo-Saxon word “shriven” (absolved from sins). A bell would be rung to call people to confession. The story is a woman was in the middle of making pancakes when she heard the bell ring, so ran with her pancake to church. This was the origin of the Onley Pancake race.
Here is a link to a Christian Aid resource Pause for Pancakes.
Reader 1: Today we make pancakes and we think about the mix. We come just as we are. Some bits good, some bits bad: we’re not always sure what is right and wrong. We are, each one of us, a mixture called ‘life’.
Reader 2: Sometimes we like what we have. We’re happy where we are. We like being comfortable and we’re not eager to change.
Reader 1: So, we sift in some flour, smoothing out the lumps and bumps – the things we regret and the wrong things we’ve done.
Reader 2: And we add a dash of salt, to make the ‘ordinary’ better with God’s love.
Reader 1: And we add in some milk, because we all need God’s strength for our journey.
Reader 2: And we add an egg, the symbol of new life, and look forward to new possibilities.
Reader 1: We mix it all together. We use up the ingredients of the past to give us strength, and to move on towards the future as we journey through Lent.
If Shrove Tuesday were to originate today, and we were to use up the rich ingredients form our cupboard – I wonder what it would be called – Salmon Tuesday, Cream Cake Tuesday?