On the eve of Ash Wednesday, which began with Advent, the long Christmas cycle celebration of the Incarnation comes to an end with the Transfiguration and the Mardi Gras party of Shrove Tuesday.

The joy and celebration of God's coming into the world in Jesus Christ turns swiftly to the Easter Cycle - the seasons of Lent, Holy Week and Easter, from Ash Wednesday through Pentecost.

The eve of Ash Wednesday and Lent, Shrove Tuesday, is named for the "shriving" (the confessions and absolutions) traditionally performed on this day.  The ministry of reconciliation, which has been committed by Christ to his church, is exercised through the care each Christian has for others, through the common prayer of Christians assembled for public worship, and through the priesthood of the Church and its ministers declaring absolution.  The rite of Reconciliation of a Penitent (Book of Common Prayer, pg. 447) is especially appropriate for Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins.

In addition to reconciliation, Shrove Tuesday is particularly associated with the origins of "carnival," the period of feasting and dancing prior to the penitential days of Lent.  The French name for this day, Mardi Gras, means "Fat Tuesday."  It was the custom in France to eat as much fat as possible before the rigid abstinence of the forty days of Lent.  In England, this came to be called Pancake Tuesday because, among other things, all eggs, flour and drippings had to be used up, thus making pancakes the order of the day.