Pancake Bell / Масленичный колокольный звон

Ringing the Pancake Bell on Shrove Tuesday is an old and once widespread custom which still survives in a number of parishes. Originally, this bell had nothing to do with pancakes. It was the Shriving Bell, which rang to summon the faithful to church, there to confess their sins to be shriven in preparation for the holy season of Lent. It was from this pious and once general practice of pre-Lent confession that the name of Shrovetide is derived. After the Reformation, the bell continued to be rung although the religious reason for it had ceased, and come to be regarded as a signal for the holiday revels to begin. It was then that it acquired the name of Pancake Bell. Now that Shrove Tuesday has lost much of its festival character, it is often supposed to ring as a warning for housewives to start preparing their pancakes. Usually it is sounded at about eleven o’clock in the morning, but the hour varies in different parishes, and may be earlier or later.


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Pancake Bell / Масленичный колокольный звон