Special Days in February (Part 2)

The second half of February leads up to Easter. The most popular celebration is the Mardi Gras festival, which has interesting origins. The term is French for "fat Tuesday", which comes from an old custom of parading a fat ox through the streets of Paris on this day. The ox was to remind people not to eat meat during Lent (the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday). Mardi Gras can be anytime between February 3 to March 9, depending on the date of Easter Sunday. The French who went to US took the custom of Mardi Gras, with New Orleans becoming the most famous center of the celebrations.

In Binche, Belgium, people dress up in colorful costumes (mainly of clowns), dance along the roads and throw oranges from baskets. The French wear giant masks in a parade. In southern Italy to, people wear costumes and put up ancient plays. Dancing in the streets is part of the celebrations in Rio de Janeiro.

Mardi Gras is also called Shrove Tuesday, from the custom of confessing one's sins the day before Lent starts.

Shrove Tuesday is also Pancake day in Great Britain.The custom began when people could not eat butter and eggs during Lent, so they made pancakes before that to use them up. In Olney, women have a pancake race. They line up in the market square, each carrying a pancake in a frying pan. She must flip the pancake thrice while racing for the church door at the other end of the square. The winner gets a kiss from the village bell ringer. There is a similar pancake race in Liberal, Kansas, and the winning times are compared over the phone.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays) and ends on Easter Sunday. It could be as early as February 14 or as late as March 10, depending on the date of Easter Sunday. These forty days remind us of Jesus's forty days of fasting. Lent comes from the old English word "lencten" or "spring."

In the Roman Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday, ashes from burned palm leaves are blessed, and then the priest uses these to mark a cross on the forehead, to remind people that they come from dust and must return to dust.

Lent is a time for fasting, meaning not eating as much as usual, and praying. In many countries, special food is taken during Lent, usually as substitutes for meat. The special dish in Ireland is "champ" of scallions ( a kind of onion) whipped in with hot mashed potatoes and served with a lump of butter in the middle.

A "hasty" pudding (which can be made quickly) is prepared in England of flour and milk, flavored with fruit syrups. In most places, fish and eggs are standard food during Lent. At one time, fish, butter, eggs and meat were forbidden, and only bread and water were allowed.

February may be the shortest month, but it is packed with a number of celebrations!

Sources:

Childcraft series for Children

www. history.com