Exit Shrovetide Enter Lent: a motet, some quotes and something about a pancake race.

Motet

(Just for fun, choose a part and sing along!)

Emendemus in melius (Let us amend for the better)

Matins response for the first Sunday in Lent

by William Byrd

for SATTB voices

Cantiones sacrae, quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur (1575)

Emendemus in melius

quae ignoranter peccavimus;  

ne subito praeoccupati die mortis, 

quaeramus spatium poenitentiae, 

et invenire non possimus.

Attende, Domine, et miserere; 

quia peccavimus tibi. 

Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster, 

et propter honorem nominis tui libera nos.

Let us amend for the better in those things

in which we have sinned through ignorance;

lest suddenly overtaken by the day of death,

we seek space for repentance,

and be not able to find it.

Hearken, O Lord, and have mercy:

for we have sinned against thee.

Help us, O God of our salvation,

and for the honour of thy name deliver us.

(English translation by William Mahrt)

• List of melodies: https://cantus.uwaterloo.ca/chant/516275
• Score: https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/c/cd/05-emendemus_in_melius---0-score.pdf
• On William Byrd's "Emendemus in melius" by Joseph Kerman in The Musical Quarterly , Oct., 1963, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct., 1963), pp. 431-449. Oxford University Press. Available at JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/740577?seq=1

Quotes

Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday. – Ven. Fulton Sheen

(Lent) is a period of spiritual 'combat' which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism. – Pope Benedict XVI

There are ways of being crucified that do not involve rough wood or heavy nails, but a love beyond our capacity to love, which means a love that has been given to us by God. – Catherine Doherty

You don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray!’ you can be sure you’ve already begun. – Saint Josemaría Escrivá

As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst. He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you. – Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could. – Saint Gregory Nazianzen

The ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us to make a complete gift of self to God. – Pope Benedict XVI

Shrove Tuesday

OXFORD

shrive /SHrīv/

verb ARCHAIC

past participle: shriven

• (of a priest) hear the confession of, assign penance to, and absolve (someone). "none of her chaplains knew English or French enough to shrive the king"
• present oneself to a priest for confession, penance, and absolution.

ONLINE ETYMOLOGICAL DICITIONARY

shrove (n.)

• "shrift, shriving," 1570s, shortened from Shrovetide (early 15c.), from schrof-, related to schrifen.
• Shrove Tuesday (c. 1500) is from practice of celebration and merrymaking before going to confession at the beginning of Lent.

Pancake Race

Getty Images

Fun Fact (from Wikipedia) - the Pancake Race. Please take heed of the rules!

Shrove Tuesday was once known as a "half-holiday" in Britain. It started at 11:00 am with the ringing of a church bell. On Pancake Day, "pancake races" are held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom. The tradition is said to have originated in 1445 when a housewife from Olney, Buckinghamshire, was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake, tossing it to prevent it from burning. The pancake race remains a relatively common festive tradition in the UK, especially England. Participants with frying pans race through the streets tossing pancakes into the air and catching them in the pan while running. The pancake race at Olney traditionally has women contestants who carry a frying pan and race over a 415-yard course to the finishing line. The rules are strict: contestants must toss the pancake at the start and the finish, and wear a scarf and apron.