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20 SPIRITUAL RECIPES
Catholic Voice
12th March 2021
Pancakes, Cookies And Hot Cross Buns Mary Kearns
The questions children ask can provide a means of evangelising but sadly we often let them pass us by. Take for example when a child asks why we have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. It isn’t enough to just reply that it is traditional. What is the purpose of hot cross buns on Ash Wednesday and during Good Friday? It should not be difficult to make an interesting story from the facts of long ago when Catholics had to fast and abstain from many foods for the season of Lent, at least on weekdays. The obligation regarding abstinence, included children from as young as seven years, the elderly and the sick were of course exempt. In earlier times, eggs and dairy products, as well as all meat, were forbidden, which is how the tradition developed of making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent began. In the modern era, however, eggs and dairy were reintroduced in the West, though they continued to be forbidden in the East. How can the Church tell you what to eat and when to eat it? Young people are amazed to the point of disbelief when they discover that not so long ago, the Church expected ordinary Catholic men, women and children to fast from midnight if they desired to receive Holy Communion in the morning. As for the Lenten fast, it was shocking to think that you would commit a serious sin if you disobeyed the regulations which allowed only one full meal and two small meals, the small meal sometimes known as a “collation.” That is still the rule for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but in previous times it applied to all the weekdays of Lent. Sunday always
honoured the Lord’s Resurrection and so all food was permitted on Sundays of Lent. The question sometimes arose as to what a “collation” consisted of but it was commonly held that this meal was to be approximately half the size of the “full meal.” You could have a collation on two occasions throughout the day, although meat was not permitted. Those with a mathematical mind could work out that it was a question of ratio. The larger your full meal, the larger could be the size of your collation. However this idea failed to pass with Bishop Cornelius Lucey of Cork and Ross. He ruled that “collation” should be understood as no more than one cup of tea, coffee or bovril with only two biscuits. It is a testimony to the ingenuity of the Irish that an enterprising baker in Cork city started to bake extra large biscuits. In fact it is claimed that these biscuits were over 3.5
inches in diameter and soon became known as “Cornelius Cookies.” A certain light-heartedness can often be observed in Irish Catholicism. The poet Patrick Kavanagh understood this very well as is evident from his poetry and other writings. Writing about this in the 1930s and 40s, the poet noted that religion was knit into the very fabric of life and the voice intoning the Hail Mary at the family rosary was the same voice that shooed the cat away from the cream and the chickens out the door. Nonetheless the cheerfulness did not obscure the deep reverence for all things holy. Men would stop work in the fields and bow their heads at the sound of the Angelus bell and they would no more neglect to observe the fast or attend the Lenten devotions than forget to feed their livestock. Irish Catholics were often seen as a particularly devout and penitent people when compared to their
12th March 2021
Catholic Voice
European counterparts. From the dawn of Christianity in Ireland, Irish fasting rituals seem to have been among the strictest in the world. Everything changed with regard to fasting in the years following the Second Vatican Council. It was not however a Council directive that revised the regulations but the Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini of Pope Paul VI. Penance during the season of Lent was still required but this was now to be self-imposed. The goal was an inner spiritual conversion when voluntary selfdenial as well as an increase in prayer and devotional exercises would help dispose the soul to God’s grace. At the same time, Paenitemini also set new minimum requirements for fasting and abstinence. Catholics were reminded that throughout the Church’s history, regulations had been adjusted to fit the spirit of the times. In 1966, Pope Paul VI reduced the obligatory fasting days to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstinence days to Fridays and Ash Wednesday, and allowed episcopal conferences to replace abstinence and fasting with other forms of penitence such as charity and piety, as declared and established in Paenitemini. This was done so that those in countries where the standard of living was lower, could replace fasting with prayer, but “...where economic wellbeing is greater, so much more will the witness of asceticism have to be given...” The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference decided to allow other forms of Friday penance to replace that of abstinence from meat, whether in Lent or outside Lent. Alternatives such as abstaining from other foods and from alcohol or smoking were proposed. Pastoral initiatives such as visiting the sick
and housebound and the support of charitable works were encouraged as was family prayer and other devotions. The most important aspect of Lent is repentance and the degree to which fasting and various penances help towards repentance is an indication of their effectiveness. It would entirely defeat the purpose if we were to become proud of what we achieve in the area of asceticism and mortification. The Miserere should always be in our minds and hearts. In this liturgical season we should avail of the grace of the sacrament of Penance. As Saint Pope John XXIII instructs, we should think of this as a process of purification: “Therefore we say: ‘Wash me yet more ……. And cleanse me from my sin...’ This mysterious process of our purification is perfectly accomplished in holy confession, through the intervention of the Blood of Christ which washes and cleanses us. The power of the divine Blood, applied to the soul, acts progressively, from one confession to another. ‘Yet more’ and ever
SPIRITUAL RECIPES 21 more. Hence the importance of confession in itself, with the words of absolution, and of the custom of frequent confession for persons of a spiritual profession, such as priests and Bishops.” (Journal of a Soul) The importance of symbols and traditions lies in pointing to what they signify. While we can certainly see that the making of pancakes has a practical purpose in that ingredients forbidden during Lent must be used up, what use do hot cross buns have? A little investigation shows a more spiritual meaning. As we can see, each bun is decorated with a cross made from flour paste. This represents the cross on which Christ died and the spices represent the spices which were used to embalm Christ after his death. It has been customary in Ireland and many other countries to bake and eat hot cross buns during the holy season of Lent. In common with other Christian practices these can help direct us to the real meaning of our preparation for the great feast of Easter, when we have accompanied Jesus through his passion and death. For catechesis and liturgical formation: marykeenankearns@gmail.com