Pancake day is coming up next week, and it marks the beginning of lent-a time of fasting and cleansing before Holy week and easter.
We make pancakes on this day because it is shrove Tuesday which means a time of forgiveness. In the past, people would confess their sins and eat any rich and nice food before spending the following 40 days fasting. The reason for this was that many people would be baptised at Easter, and would therefore cleanse themselves before this big event in their life.
Hannah Rowley spoke to Father Alex Adkins, Assistant Priest at St Hugh’s Roman Catholic Church, Lincoln, to find out about the religious origins of the day.