Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Join us for Vienna Presbyterian Church’s annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on February 17 from 4:00 to 6:30 PM! This free, family-friendly event is open to all ages. Enjoy delicious pancakes, sausage, games, King Cake, and more!

What Is Shrove Tuesday?

Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the fasting period of Lent in Western Christian churches. On Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday, people in many countries celebrate Carnival, bake pancakes, and prepare themselves for 40 days of fasting before the most important festival in the Christian Church: Easter.

What Does Shrove Mean?

The word shrove means being absolved from sin through confession and penance.

Shrove comes from the Latin word for “writing” (scribere); the English Church used the word for writing down rules (scrifan) to mean “absolving sinners” (shrive).

Pancake Day

Before the Lenten fasting, people traditionally use up ingredients they are not allowed to eat during the next 40 days—especially ingredients that would spoil, like eggs and milk.

A great way to use up these ingredients is baking pancakes and waffles. That is how Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent, became known as Pancake Day or Fat Tuesday.