Background Information for Teachers - Easter

Please note that all the links below are to external websites. Although every care has been taken in the selection of the links given below, Teaching and Learning Resources is not responsible for the content of external websites.

• Shrove Tuesday

• Ash Wednesday

• Lent

• Easter

Shrove Tuesday

• The History Behind Shrove Tuesday
  Perhaps the best known one is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the beginning of fasting in Lent. On this day (so the historians say) there were feasts of pancakes to use up the supplies of fat, butter and eggs... foods that were forbidden during austere Lent.

• 'Pancake Day' Explained
  Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras or fetter Dienstag) is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Since Lent is a time of abstinence, traditionally of meat, fat, eggs and dairy products (one wonders what was left) Shrove Tuesday's menu was designed to use up all the fat, eggs and dairy products left in the kitchen and storeroom. It is also a 'feast' to prepare for the time of 'famine' in the desert. In some cultures, it is traditional to eat as much as possible on Shrove Tuesday, sometimes up to 12 times a day.

Ash Wednesday

• Ash Wednesday - Questions and answers
  Questions and answers about Ash Wednesday.

Lent

• The Season of Lent
  Information about the Season of Lent , including what it means, when it starts and
  ends, how it originated, and how it sets the theme for Christian worship.

• More Information about Lent
  The Season of Lent. Lent is a forty-day season of preparation for the death and
  resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

• Lenten Links and Resources
  On Line Resources for the Season of Lent . General Resources: Holy Week Resources at The Text This Week. A comprehensive list of Lent and Easter links.

Easter

• Easter on the Net - Welcome
  Hoppy Easter Welcome to a Holiday Celebration. Easter is the time of springtime festivals, a time to welcome back the Tulips, the Crocuses and the Daffodils. Description: The Easter bunny, Easter eggs, and other resources at this site from Holidays on the Net.

• The Easter Page -- Traditions, History, and Dates of Easter
  Find out all about the religious and secular traditions and history of Easter --
  the holiest of the Christian holidays. Description: Site examines the historical roots of Easter and traditions associated with the holiday.

• Howstuffworks "How Easter Works"
  In this edition of HowStuffWorks , we will explain the origin and significance of the Easter holiday and of many of the traditions associated with it. Have you ever wondered why Easter falls on a different date each year? We'll explore that, too, and even tell you where to find the schedule through 2005 .