Except that it isn’t, any more.
When I was young, the three Sundays before Lent were called the time of Septuagesima. The priest wore purple instead of the green which denotes Ordinary Time – I love Ordinary Time, normally, in liturgy as in the rest of life. Thank God it’s Monday, is my motto. But the purple of Septuagesima Sunday was a useful reminder that Lent was immanent.
Nowadays, there’s no warning at all, unless you happen to notice the cookery writers talking about pancakes.
Septuagesima was a fairly late addition to the liturgical year, and it was swept away in recent reforms. I pay more attention to it now than when it was actually observed. I’m going to miss my ciderous Sundays fully as much, if not more, as I used to miss cider on all seven days.
Tennis: there is a distinct feeling of Scotland Expects, around here.
Andy Murray was a boy at that school in Dunblane the day Thomas Hamilton came in and started shooting children. Now there’s a factoid for you.
There’s much to be said, about the pronunciation of “often” – Tamar, that’s fascinating; about the difficulties of calculating a new gauge for the Harlequin; about the Grandson sweater. I’ve done nine inches of sleeve – I’ll try to take a picture when full daylight arrives.
But now I’m going to go turn on the television.
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Somehow I'd missed the pancake-Lent connection. Being raised Presbyterian, though, Lent never figured heavily in the liturgical year. Likely, I expect, out of a deep aversion to anything that carried a whiff of Catholicism about it.
ReplyDeletesorry for your loss (i'm a RF fan) ... i thought it was a lopsided match until the third set - if AM had played like that for the first two = BOY that would have been something!
ReplyDeleteabout Dublane - the announcers mentioned it too - first i had heard. wow what a legacy to live with !
Jean, I love the "factoids" you slip into your blog. Where else could I find Latin quotations, gardening info, and liturgical history side by side with the wonderful knitting information and knitting book reviews? You have no idea how many knitting books I've purchased because "Jean says this one is worth adding to the library!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I am enjoying the History of the World very much. Thanks for sharing the link.
Barbara M.
Loved Tamar's infobit on 'often' yesterday - I will share it with my mom. My mom is quite irked by people pronouncing the 't', and since it is included in a song her church often sings, has been known to let the entire women's congregation know that it is not preferred. I agree with her, though i am less adamant about it, and for some reason my sister has started pronouncing the 't'. She certainly was not raised to do that! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've checked out 'A Fine Fleece' (thanks for mentioning it). What fabulous patterns!
ReplyDeleteSad about Andy Murray losing. I do admire Roger Federer but I wanted Andy to win. He'll have other chances - he is a bright star to watch.
ReplyDeleteJanet