Benedictus Deus

I have been prioritizing some other hobbies above blogging, so it has been tough to get a post up lately. Aside from that, I am distracted with a lot of other things, and keep finding myself surprised by the onset of various feasts and seasons. So, I was going to have a new Septuagesima post, but I’ll content myself with just one interesting note.

In the Golden Legend entry for Septuagesima it says that in the very early days, before the celebration of saint’s feasts, Thursday was regarded as a sacred day on account of the Ascension. Thursday was treated almost like a second Sunday in the week. In fact, there was saying that “Thursday is Sunday’s cousin.” I suppose that is why we do not fast on Thursdays during ember weeks. (That’s just my own conjecture.) Anyway, when the celebration of saints became common, the observance of a holy Thursday fell into disuse. According to the Golden Legend, this is one reason why Septuagesima was instituted, to make reparation for not honoring Thursdays. Fascinating stuff.

Anyway, it is now the brief (and unofficial) time of Shrovetide. I don’t have anything to add to my last post on it, except to offer more encouragement to make reparations for the abuses of Mardi Gras.  Not that I think there is anything wrong with a bit of merriment, especially on Shrove Teusday, as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.  We are having a little pancake party tonight ourselves.

And as always, for Lent I encourage everyone to try to get back to the old Lenten rules (i.e. fasting every day) as best they can.