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Sylvan Lake students celebrate Shrove Tuesday with pancakes

A pancake breakfast was prepared for students at Mother Teresa and OLR
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Parent volunteer Melissa Chartrand drizzles maple syrup onto a stack of pancakes for Grade 4 students Sophia Cuffe at Ecole Mother Teresa School’s Shrove Tuesday pancake breakfast on March 5. Photo by Megan Roth/Sylvan Lake News

In the lead up to the holy season of Lent, students at Ecole Mother Teresa School feasted on pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.

Thanks to a veritable army of parent volunteers, the ever-growing middle school had thousands of pancakes to feed not only the roughly 500 students, but also staff and volunteers.

The Parent Council at Our Lady of the Rosary School also prepared a pancake breakfast for their students, on March 5.

Shrove Tuesday is always recognized on the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. It is considered the last day of feasting before fasting during Lent.

READ MORE: Photos: A feast for students on Shrove Tuesday

Ash Wednesday

Roman Catholics are not the only Christian faith to recognized Shrove Tuesday, Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists are also known to celebrate the feasting day.

Pancakes are most often eaten during the celebration because ingredients such as eggs, flour and milk were once given up for fasting during Lent.

Because of this, pancakes became an easy way to indulge in what was to be given up for the next 45 days.

Though today, it is more common to see people give up foods like chocolate for Lent.

Mardi Gras is also celebrated on Shrove Tuesday, and is possibly one of the most widely known celebrations preceding Lent. It is French for “Fat Tuesday” because with the start of Lent richer, fatty foods tend to be cut out as a ritual fasting.

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Pryce Wade and Alexa Vandermeer prepare their pancakes with maple syrup Tuesday morning. Photo by Megan Roth/Sylvan Lake News