Shrove Tuesday at Holy Cross Parish

On Shrove Tuesday, 1 March, we will hold our annual Burning of the Palms and Holy Oils and Burial of the Alleluia followed by a pancake supper.

Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, is traditionally marked by the preparation of the ashes for the next day, the burial of the Alleluia for the season of Lent, and the cooking pancakes to use up eggs, sugar and dairy products before the fast of Lent begins.

The palms blessed the previous year on Palm Sunday are burned, along with the holy oils used in Baptism, Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick, to form the ashes which are then imposed on people’s heads on Ash Wednesday as a mark of penance. The “Alleluia” is buried to mark the fact that this word is never spoken during Lent.