article on Lent<\/a>, notes that at the time of Gregory the Great (590-604) Lent consisted of six weeks of six fast days, and only later was this period extended to Ash Wednesday to bring the number of fast days to forty. In earlier times, in Jerusalem, both Saturday and Sunday were exempt from fasting, and Lent was observed over eight weeks.<\/p>\nThe same article, in discussing the nature of the fast, gives an insight into two Easter customs: Easter eggs and the pancakes of Shrove, or Pancake, Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. What food is, or was, prohibited in Lent? In particular, were lacticinia<\/i>, essentially dairy foods and eggs, allowed? As the practices of Lent developed, lacticinia<\/i> came to be prohibited. However, exceptions could be made when associated with charitable works. Such dispensations were known in Germany as Butterbriefe, and one of the spires of Rouen cathedral was once called the Butter Tower. Hence also, the feast of butter and eggs on Pancake Tuesday, and the celebratory gifts of eggs at the breaking of the fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How long is Lent? It’s something that has puzzled me, because the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday, inclusive, is six weeks and four days; 46 days. Lent, though, is supposed to be a forty day fast, is it not? On Ash Wednesday, I heard that the period covered forty fast days and six … Continue reading “How long is Lent?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8SCfl-1a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/2012\/02\/ash-wednesday\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":0},"title":"Ash Wednesday","author":"pbw","date":"Wed 22nd Feb '12","format":false,"excerpt":"It's 10:22pm on Ash Wednesday, and Lent hasn't got off to a flying start. Shrove Tuesday was a black day indeed. Jen was very distressed\u2014the cause is immaterial\u2014and instead of giving the sympathy and support she might expect, I opened the cranky valve and vented, loudly and at length. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/category\/belief\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1107,"url":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/2023\/05\/o-advent-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":1},"title":"O Advent Tree!","author":"Me","date":"Wed 17th May '23","format":false,"excerpt":"First published at NewCatallaxy blog, 24 December, 2022 The buds begin to appear towards the end of November, just before Advent. Thoughtfully, the trees vary in their timing, some retaining their vibrant heads of blossom well into January, but for the most part, their display is at its most spectacular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Catallaxy"","block_context":{"text":"New Catallaxy","link":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/category\/publications\/new-catallaxy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newcatallaxy.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Greenslopes_poinciana-1024x735.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newcatallaxy.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Greenslopes_poinciana-1024x735.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newcatallaxy.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Greenslopes_poinciana-1024x735.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1000,"url":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/2021\/04\/the-long-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":2},"title":"The Long Weekend","author":"admin","date":"Wed 7th Apr '21","format":false,"excerpt":"Published at The Orthosphere on Easter Saturday, 2021. It\u2019s Saturday. As Friday waned, the old world died. All of the old certainties were bound up with aloes and myrrh in linen, and laid to restlessness. Now we wait. There are rumours of Sunday. I have heard, and I believe \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Belief & knowledge"","block_context":{"text":"Belief & knowledge","link":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/category\/belief\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":118,"url":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/2007\/10\/dad-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":3},"title":"Dad died.","author":"pbw","date":"Sat 6th Oct '07","format":false,"excerpt":"Dad died on Tuesday the 22nd of May. He had a fall in the nursing home, where he was under house arrest due to his dementia, or, to be more precise, his inability to remember short to medium term events. He would wander, and lose track of the time and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/category\/personal\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":117,"url":"https:\/\/pbw.id.au\/blog\/2007\/10\/births-marriages-and-deaths\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":4},"title":"Births, Marriages and Deaths","author":"pbw","date":"Sat 6th Oct '07","format":false,"excerpt":"I was the executor of Dad's will, a circumstance both appropriate and unfortunate. Unfortunate because administration is not my milieu even in the mill-pond days of the psyche, and they are few. The storms that churn my teacup depths are many and varied. 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