RE NEWS
Religion News: Thursday the 1st of February
Welcome to Term One. Each Term at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School we have a new theme or topic for our Religious Education Studies. This Term, our Topic is Prayer. Some of the questions and wonderings that have come from our students are; What is prayer? Where can we pray? How do we pray? Can anybody pray? Who are we praying to and what are we praying for? When asked, “What is prayer?’ one of our students simply said, “It is a conversation with God.” Over the term, I will keep you updated about what we are doing at school on Prayer.
Shrove Tuesday will be celebrated on Tuesday the 13th of February. We plan to make pancakes around 11:40am in the St. Mary Mackillop Hall. If any parent of family member would like to assist us with it will be truly appreciated and welcomed. Also, if anyone can lend us an electric frying pan, we would be very grateful.
Ash Wednesday will be celebrated on Wednesday the 14th of February at 10:00 am Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Once again everyone is welcome to join us.
In Australia and Britain the day preceding Ash Wednesday is popularly known as Shrove Tuesday. It is also frequently called Pancake Tuesday. But it is the name “Shrove” that shows its religious origins. Shrove is the past tense of the English verb “Shrive” which means to obtain absolution for the thoughts, actions and decisions that could have been better.
With Shrove Tuesday taking place before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, it was the day when Christians were encouraged to go to confession in preparation for the Lenten season that would end 40 days and 40 nights later with Easter Sunday.
Dating back to 1000 AD, over the years Shrove Tuesday not only became a day for Confession but a time for Catholics to feast on eggs, sugar and dairy which are traditionally restricted during the Lenten fast.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Season of Lent. Lent is the forty days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter. The number forty is significant as it refers to Jesus’ forty days in the desert prior to beginning his ministry of teaching.
On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes in the shape of a cross on our forehead. These ashes are created from the palms used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday Mass. They symbolize penance, which is appropriate as Lent is a season of penance and prayer. The Season of Lent is one of the most important Seasons in the Church Calendar.
Kind Regards
Sue Benc