In the Christian religion, Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent begins, when confession leads one to be shriven of sins for which the penitent is given absolution. In the Talmud, Tuesday is listed as a lucky day because on the third day of creation "God saw that it was good."
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The name traditionally given to the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. On this day in the Middle Ages the faithful were expected to attend confession with a priest for the purpose of being absolved or shriven in order to begin Lent in the right spiritual state.
Because people were expected to fast during Lent the custom grew up of using up oddments of fat to make and fry pancakes, and from this pancakes on Shrove Tuesday became traditional. A number of other customs, e.g., the annual pancake race at Olney in Buckinghamshire, England, have developed from the same source.
D H Wheaton
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)
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