"We went to bed as a normal family that shrove Tuesday, but woke up to our world having been devastated."

“Shrift,” from the verb “to shrive,” is confession of one’s sins to a priest and presumably forgiveness.

Is it getting ready for our return to a shriven world, sadder, smaller but somehow more pure than before?

Other events include a 5K fun run, races for all ages, and a shriving service, which is the religious component of the holiday, according to race organizers.

The force said the word shrove is the past tense of shrive - confession before Lent - so it felt appropriate.