Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)

[Lamb]

Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and people used to engorge themselves on things they wouldn't eat or drink again until Easter. Did you participate in Fat Tuesday? I had a donut today.

 

[Messy]

I have never heard of that. I did know Mardi Gras from a Paul Simon song, but I thought it was a pop festival.

 

[Lamb]

I have never heard of that. I did know Mardi Gras from a Paul Simon song, but I thought it was a pop festival.

Well Mardi Gras is a festival of sorts, especially in New Orleans! There are parades there and lots of beads thrown around.

 

[tango]

My wife and I have pancakes with sausage and bacon.

 

[Albion]

I have never heard of that. I did know Mardi Gras from a Paul Simon song, but I thought it was a pop festival.

As concerns the goings-on in New Orleans, yes.

However, the day before Ash Wednesday has long been an important event among the historic Christian churches, although not by that particular name (Fat Tuesday). That term only became common throughout the USA in recent years. Previously, and still as it is in the liturgical churches, the name for the day is Shrove Tuesday.

That name refers to people confessing their sins, stripping them away, and readying themselves for the start of the season of Lent in which they are supposed to share, symbolically, in Christ's 40 days of fasting in the wilderness through acts of self-denial.

Just the same, Shrove Tuesday has also been a day for eating hearty since none of that is supposed to go on during Lent.

 

[tango]

I've known it as Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day) since I was a child. I wasn't aware of the tradition of confessing sins before Lent, just the idea of using up all the foody goodies on Tuesday before Lent starts on Wednesday and you don't eat such things until Easter.

It's a tradition with little purpose if you don't give up all the fattening stuff for Lent, but pancakes do taste good. Especially with sausage and bacon.