All About Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent

Mardi Gras is the last day of feasting and ends the day before Lent begins. This is why, in New Orleans, Mardi Gras ends abruptly at midnight as Ash Wednesday begins. Police usher party goers out of the area, while street sweepers clear the debris from the roadway.

What some people might not is is that Mardi Gras is related to the Christmas season by the ordinary-time interlude known as Carnival, in many Catholic cultures. In the Christian calendar, ordinary time refers to the normal ordering of time beyond the Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter seasons.

The liturgical year is not only about vestment colors, ashes and palms, poinsettias and Easter lilies. Most areas of the country have four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. The liturgical year has seasons, too: (1) Advent, Christmas Day, and all of the Christmas season feasts until the Baptism of the Lord, and (2) Lent, Easter Sunday, and the 50 days until Pentecost.

Carnival derives from the Latin words 'carne vale,' which means 'farewell to the flesh.' Some believe the festival represented the days added to the lunar calender so that it would coincide with the solar calendar. And, as these days were outside the calendar, rules and customs were not obeyed.

The carnival season (Epiphany) begins twelve days after Christmas, January 6^th, and celebrates the Three Wise Men who bear gifts to the infant, Jesus Christ.

King Cake Celebration

Traditionally, Epiphany is celebrated by serving a King's Cake, a custom from France in the 12^th century. According to legend, the cakes were make in a circle to represent the circular routes taken by the Wise Men as they looked for Jesus. King Herod had plans of killing the Christ Child, and the Wise Men decided to travel in circles to confuse the King.

Originally, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found it was said to have good luck all through the coming year. Today, Louisiana bakers place a small figurine of a baby to represent the Christ Child inside the cake. The person who finds the toy is expected to host the next King Cake party.

As time passed, the French in New Orleans, celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties. That was until the Spanish government took control in the mid-1700s, and banned the celebrations. Even after the U.S. Government acquired the land, the ban was not lifted until 1827. The official colors of Mardi Gras, with roots tied to Catholicism, were chosen ten years later. Purple was chosen as a symbol of justice, green represents faith, and gold signifies power.

In the French language, Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday. The name came from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting on a fat calf, on the last day of Carnival season. Fat Tuesday is also known as Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday, and fetter Dienstag. Pancakes were made to use up fat, eggs and milk before the fasting of Lent began.

Why the Ashes on Ash Wednesday?

This can be directly linked to the death and resurrection of Baptism. Marking with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates the recognition of a need for deeper conversion of our lives during this season of renewal.

Lent is a time to renew your covenant. Typically, the messages throughout the Lent season are about: Good and Evil, Say Yes to God, the Living Water, Seeing the Light, Our Final Moments, and an End to Hatred.

The Carnival season is a time to feast and be joyful. Lent is a time to renew your faith and cast off sins. It was horrible and cruel to nail Christ to a cross made from the Dogwood tree, and watch as the people stoned him to death. But, the crowning moment of the season is rejoicing in His resurrection.

Lent invites us to renew our baptismal commitment and celebrate our rebirth to new life through the Lord's passion, death, and resurrection.