Many are unaware that Mardi Gras is a single day. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," a reference to the tradition of slaughtering a fatted calf on the Tuesday before the beginning of the 40-day Lenten fast. There is a distinction, however, between Mardi Gras and Carnival. Mardi Gras is a single day that is the climax for the Carnival season. The Carnival season begins on January 6th or Twelfth Night (Kings Night) and runs until the beginning of Lent -- the Easter season (Ash Wednesday). Depending on when Easter falls in a given year, Carnival can run as long as two months.
How Mardi Gras started is not really clear. There are plenty of legends and stories about early Carnival. But, it's not certain which are myths and which are fact. Legend has it that the first Mardi Gras came to be because the early Christian church adopted and reformed the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a decadent three days of celebration, in order to convert the pagans. The early Church renamed the holiday to "carnelevamen," meaning "farewell to the flesh." The French coined the phrase Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday, and brought the holiday with them when they settled New Orleans. The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power).
In European Countries, the coming of the wisemen bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. This celebration, called Epiphany, Little Christmas or the Twelfth Night, is a time of exchanging gifts and feasting. All over the world people gather for festive twelfth night celebrations. One of the most popular customs is still the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings --- "A King's Cake". The Europeans hide a bean inside their cake and the person receiving the bean must portray one of the kings. Latin American people put a small figure inside the cake representing the Christ Child. It is said that a year of good fortune awaits the lucky person who gets the figure.
I always look forward to Mardi Gras, not for the usual reason (partying until you can longer stand-up) but for the fact that it is only 47 days until Easter and Spring!
How Mardi Gras started is not really clear. There are plenty of legends and stories about early Carnival. But, it's not certain which are myths and which are fact. Legend has it that the first Mardi Gras came to be because the early Christian church adopted and reformed the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a decadent three days of celebration, in order to convert the pagans. The early Church renamed the holiday to "carnelevamen," meaning "farewell to the flesh." The French coined the phrase Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday, and brought the holiday with them when they settled New Orleans. The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power).
In European Countries, the coming of the wisemen bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. This celebration, called Epiphany, Little Christmas or the Twelfth Night, is a time of exchanging gifts and feasting. All over the world people gather for festive twelfth night celebrations. One of the most popular customs is still the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings --- "A King's Cake". The Europeans hide a bean inside their cake and the person receiving the bean must portray one of the kings. Latin American people put a small figure inside the cake representing the Christ Child. It is said that a year of good fortune awaits the lucky person who gets the figure.
I always look forward to Mardi Gras, not for the usual reason (partying until you can longer stand-up) but for the fact that it is only 47 days until Easter and Spring!
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