| Mardi Gras | |
|---|---|
 Celebrations inNew Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | |
| Also called | Fat Tuesday,Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday |
| Type | Christian, cultural |
| Significance | Celebration period before fasting season ofLent |
| Celebrations | Parades, parties |
| Date | Day beforeAsh Wednesday, 47 days beforeEaster, 2 days afterShrove Sunday |
| 2024 date | February 13 |
| 2025 date | March 4 |
| 2026 date | February 17 |
| 2027 date | February 9 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Shrove Tuesday,Carnival,Shrove Monday,Pre-Lent,Ash Wednesday,Lent,Užgavėnės,Maslenitsa |
Mardi Gras (UK:/ˌmɑːrdiˈɡrɑː/,US:/ˈmɑːrdiɡrɑː/;[1][2] also known asShrove Tuesday) is the final day ofCarnival (also known asShrovetide orFastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning ofLent onAsh Wednesday.[3]Mardi Gras isFrench for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being the last day of consuming rich, fatty foods, most notablyred meat, in preparation for the Christianfasting season of Lent, during which such foods are avoided.[4]
Related popular practices are associated with Carnival celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with thepenitential season of Lent. In countries such as theUnited Kingdom, Mardi Gras is more usually known as Pancake Day or (traditionally) Shrove Tuesday, derived from the wordshrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament ofconfession to; to absolve".[5]
During theliturgical season of Lent, some Christiansabstain from the consumption of certain foods such as meat, eggs, dairy products, and alcoholic beverages. Most Christian denominations observe the tradition of Lent; exceptions include many churches within theAnabaptist,Baptist,Methodist, andReformed traditions.[6][7][8][9][10]Shrovetide provided Christians with the opportunity to use up these foods prior to the start of the 40-day fasting season of Lent.[11][12][13]
Prior to the 6th century, Lent was normatively observed through the practice of theBlack Fast, which enjoins fasting from food and liquids, with the allowance of onevegetarian meal and water after sunset.[12][13] The tradition ofpancake breakfasts during Shrovetide, as well as that of pancake races, owes itself to this practice of "using up the surplus eggs, milk and butter" prior to Lent.[11][14]
The specific tradition of eating pancakes is said to have roots inSlavicpaganism, with this practice being co-opted into Christian ritual.[15][16] Specifically the pancake was said to symbolise the returning of the sun as spring approached.[17][18]
In many Christian parish churches, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, a popular Shrove Tuesday tradition is the ringing of thechurch bells (on this day, the toll is known as the Shriving Bell) "to call the faithful to confession before the solemn season of Lent" and for people to "begin frying their pancakes".[19][20][21] As such, a hallmark of Shrovetide is the opportunity for a last round of merrymaking associated with Mardis Gras before the start of the somber Lenten season.[22][23][4] The last day of Shrovetide, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), is named as such "because people felt bloated having eaten up all the rich foods before Lent" in order to prepare for the coming season of repentance.[4]
The festival season varies from city to city; Mardis Gras often refers to the last day of Shrovetide (or Fastelavn or Carnival), thus being synonymous withShrove Tuesday.[4] Some traditions, such as the one inNew Orleans, Louisiana, consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period fromTwelfth Night (the last night of Christmas which beginsEpiphany) to Ash Wednesday.[24][25] Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.[26]
InMobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras–associated social events begin in November, followed bymystic society balls[24][27] New Year's Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight beforeAsh Wednesday. In earlier times, parades were held on New Year's Day.[24] Carnival (orFastelavn orShrovetide) is an important celebration inLutheran,Anglican andCatholic European nations.[5][22]
The three-dayCarnival of Binche, nearMons, is one of the best known in Belgium. It takes place aroundShrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) just beforeLent. Performers known asGilles wear elaborate costumes in thenational colours of red, black and yellow. During the parade, they throworanges at the crowd.[28] In 2003, it was recognized byUNESCO as one of theMasterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[29]
In theCzech Republic, it is a folk tradition to celebrate Mardi Gras, which is called Masopust (meat-fast, i.e. beginning of the fast there). There are celebrations in many places includingPrague,[30] but the tradition also prevails in villages such asStaré Hamry, whose door-to-door processions made it to theUNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List.[31]
The celebration on the same day inGermany knows many different terms, depending on the region, such asFastnacht, meaning the eve of the fast that takes place during Lent, or Veilchensdienstag (Violet Tuesday), as it is called in the Lower Rhine region. The celebrations often stretch from Epiphany, known in sections of Germany as Heilige Drei Könige, through the night before Ash Wednesday, and is variously known by different names, such asKarneval orFasching in Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. It is also often referred to as the "fifth season", which traditionally begins with Hoppeditz Erwachen (the waking of Hoppeditz, the Fool who embodies the Karneval season) on 11 November at 11:11 AM (11/11 11:11).[citation needed] and ends with his comic funeral mass on Fastnacht.
Karneval is filled with large banquets held by the various organizing societies and generally comes to a climax beginning on what is variously known asSchmutziger Donnerstag orFetter Donnerstag (Fat Thursday),Unsinniger Donnerstag (Nonsense Thursday),Altweiberfastnacht,Greesentag and others. Instandard German,schmutzig means "dirty", but in the Alemannic dialectsschmotzig means "lard" (Schmalz), or "fat";[32] thus "Greasy Thursday", as remaining winter stores of lard and butter used to be consumed at that time, before the fasting began. Altweiberfastnacht often featured women wearing men's clothing and assuming their roles. In many towns across the state of North Rhine Westphalia, a ritual "takeover" of the town halls by local women has become tradition.
InItaly Mardi Gras is called Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday). It is the main day ofCarnival along with the Thursday before, called Giovedí Grasso (Fat Thursday), which ratifies the start of the celebrations. The most famousCarnivals in northern Italy are in Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea, while in the southern part of Italy the SardinianSartiglia and the intriguing apotropaic masks, especially the mamuthones, issohadores, s'urtzu (and so on), are more popular, belonging to a very ancient tradition. Ivrea has the characteristic "Battle of Oranges" that finds its roots in medieval times. The Italian version of the festival is spelled Carnevale.[33]
InSweden the celebration is called Fettisdagen, when fastlagsbulle is eaten, more commonly calledSemla. The name comes from the words "fett" (fat) and "tisdag" (Tuesday). Originally, this was the only day one should eatfastlagsbullar.[34]
SeeShrove Tuesday.
While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of historically ethnically French cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations. Mardi Gras arrived in North America as aFrench Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers,[35]Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville andJean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when KingLouis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory ofLouisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states ofAlabama,Mississippi,Louisiana and part of easternTexas.[35]
The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of theMississippi River on the evening of 2 March 1699 (new style),Lundi Gras. They did not yet know it was the river explored and claimed for France byRené-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the east bank about 60 miles (100 km) downriver from whereNew Orleans is today, and made camp. This was on 3 March 1699, Mardi Gras, so in honour of this holiday, Iberville named the spotPoint du Mardi Gras (French: "Mardi Gras Point") and called the nearby tributary Bayou Mardi Gras.[36]
Bienville went on to found the settlement ofMobile (now in Alabama) in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana.[37] In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established thefirst organised Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States.[35][38][39][40] The first informalmystic society, orkrewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, theBoeuf Gras Society.[38] Then came theStriker's Independent Society in 1842, followed by the oldest parading mystic society theOrder of Myths or "OOMs" in 1867.
In 1720,Biloxi had been made capital of Louisiana. The French Mardi Gras customs had accompanied the colonists who settled there.[35]
In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved toNew Orleans, founded in 1718.[37] The first Mardi Gras parade held in New Orleans is recorded to have taken place in 1833 withBernard de Marigny funding the first organized parade, tableau, and ball. The tradition in New Orleans expanded to the point that it became synonymous with the city in popular perception, and embraced by residents of New Orleans beyond those of French or Catholic heritage. Mardi Gras celebrations are part of the basis of the sloganLaissez les bons temps rouler ("Let the good times roll"), as floats "roll".[35][failed verification]
Festivities formally began in 1853 when a group ofProtestantAnglo-Americans, some members ofMobileMystic Societies, formed the first "old-line" krewe, TheMistick Krewe of Comus, based onBernard de Marigny's 1833 parade of paper-mached wagons, a formaltableau vivant and presentation of debutants, followed by a formalball. TheTwelfth Night Revelers were formed in 1870, again with ties toMobile, but no longer stage a parade, just tableau and ball. TheKnights of Momus andRex came about in 1872, with the last of the old-line krewes theKrewe of Proteus being formed 10 years later. Of these 5 groups only Rex and Proteus still formally parade, with theKnights of Chaos replacing Momus.
The parades of the largest krewes (colloquially known as "super krewes") came later, during the 1960s/70's, and traditionally occur immediately prior to and on Shrove Tuesday, including those ofEndymion (Saturday, which also culminates with a concert event atCaesars Superdome),Bacchus (Sunday), andZulu andRex (Tuesday).
Other cities along the Gulf Coast with early French colonial heritage, fromPensacola, Florida, andGalveston, Texas, toLake Charles andLafayette, Louisiana, and north toNatchez, Mississippi, andAlexandria, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations.[citation needed]
Galveston's first recorded Mardi Gras celebration, in 1867, included a masked ball at Turner Hall (Sealy at 21st St.) and a theatrical performance from Shakespeare's "King Henry IV" featuring Alvan Reed (a justice of the peace weighing in at 350 pounds) as Falstaff. The first year that Mardi Gras was celebrated on a grand scale in Galveston was 1871 with the emergence of two rival Mardi Gras societies, or "Krewes" called the Knights of Momus (known only by the initials "K.O.M.") and the Knights of Myth, both of which devised night parades, masked balls, exquisite costumes and elaborate invitations. The Knights of Momus, led by some prominent Galvestonians, decorated horse-drawn wagons for a torch lit night parade. Boasting such themes as "The Crusades", "Peter the Great", and "Ancient France", the procession through downtown Galveston culminated at Turner Hall with a presentation of tableaux and a grand gala.[citation needed]
In the ruralAcadiana area, manyCajuns celebrate with theCourir de Mardi Gras, a tradition that dates to medieval celebrations in France.[41]
St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1764 by French fur traders, claims to host the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States.[42] The celebration is held in the historic French neighborhood,Soulard, and attracts hundreds of thousands of people from around the country.[43] Although founded in the 1760s, the St. Louis Mardi Gras festivities only date to the 1980s.[44] The city's celebration begins with "12th night", held on Epiphany, and ends on Fat Tuesday. The season is peppered with various parades celebrating the city's rich French Catholic heritage.[45]
Mardi Gras, as a celebration of life before the more-somber occasion of Ash Wednesday, nearly always involves the use of masks and costumes by its participants, and the most popular celebratory colors are purple, green, and gold. In New Orleans, for example, these often take the shape of fairies, animals, people from myths, or various Medieval costumes[46] as well as clowns andNative Americans.[47]
Although theChurch teaches that it is sinful and that it contravenes the Christian standards ofmodesty,[48][49] the practice of some women exposing their breasts during Mardi Gras inNew Orleans, US, has been documented since 1889, when theTimes-Democrat decried the "degree of immodesty exhibited by nearly all female masqueraders seen on the streets." The practice was mostly limited to tourists in the upper Bourbon Street area.[50][51] In the crowded streets of the French Quarter, generally avoided by locals on Mardi Gras Day,flashers on balconies cause crowds to form on the streets.[citation needed]
In the last decades of the 20th century, the rise in producing commercialvideotapes catering tovoyeurs helped encourage a tradition of women baring their breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets. Social scientists studying "ritual disrobement" found, at Mardi Gras 1991, 1,200 instances of body-baring in exchange for beads or other favors.[51]
Shrove Tuesday was the day when all the luxury foods were eaten up. These included meat, eggs, milk and fine flour. People also went to church and confessed their sins. Today, many Christians give up 'something' for Lent, while others occupy their time with charitable works. In other parts of the world the day is called Fat Tuesday (or 'Mardi Gras') because people felt bloated having eaten up all the rich foods before Lent. Mardi Gras celebrations are often very elaborate, involving costumes and parties.
In Anglican countries, Mardis Gras is known asShrove Tuesday—fromshrive meaning "confess"—orPancake Day—after the breakfast food that symbolizes one final hearty meal of eggs, butter, milk and sugar before the fast. On Ash Wednesday, the morning after Mardi Gras, repentant Christians return to church to receive upon the forehead the sign of the cross in ashes.
Those inheriting a Reformed theology (which would include the OPC) have adopted the stance that the church is only to practice in worship what the Bible actually establishes, often called the 'regulative principle of worship.' Many in the Reformed tradition would exclude the practice of Lent on this basis—it lacks scriptural warrant.
Traditionally, Mennonites did not observe Lent, and only recently have more modern Mennonite churches started to focus on the six week season preceding Easter.
In most Baptist churches, Lent is non-existent, and Advent is merely the 'pre-Christmas' wind-up.
{{cite book}}:Check|url= value (help)Until relatively recently, the Lenten fast was taken so seriously in Ireland that it meant abstaining not only from meat but also eggs and all milk products. The tradition of making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) came about as a practical way of using up the surplus eggs, milk and butter which would otherwise go to waste. Most Irish families still make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and the tradition of tossing pancakes not only survives but actually thrives, providing voter-friendly photo opportunities for politicians and commercial opportunities for the catering trade.
The primitive Christians in Lent broke their fast only after sunset, and then usually only with herbs, roots, and bread. At least all were obliged to abstain not only from flesh meat, but also from fish, and whatever had life; also whatever is derived from flesh, as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, according to the ancient canon. Likewise from wine, which in the primitive ages was no less forbidden on all fasting days than the use of flesh meat itself ... Some mitigations were introduced in part of abstinence in the sixth century ... Fish was in the same age allowed, but not of the dearer and more dainty kinds.
It is undoubted, that anciently to drink on fasting days was no less forbid than to eat, only in the refection after sunset.
The association between pancakes and Shrove Tuesday appears to have its origins in the fact that the pancakes used up food such as butter, eggs and fat that were prohibited during Lent, which begins the following day on Ash Wednesday. ... Pancakes have been eaten on Shrove Tuesday since at least the sixteenth century. In some parishes, it was the custom for the church bell to ring at noon as the signal for people to begin frying their pancakes.
In many Protestant and Roman Catholic Christian churches, a popular Shrove Tuesday ritual is the ringing of the church bells (on this day, known as the Shriving Bell) "to call the faithful to confession before the solemn season of Lent" and for people to "begin frying their pancakes."
One of these was the pre-Lent Carnival extravaganza of Shrovetide, though this seems to have been celebrated to a much lesser extent in Britain than it was (and still is) on the continent: however, we know of English Shrovetide plays, andMankind bears signs of being one of them (335).
mardi gras in italy.
And by the way, flashing is not only not required, it's discouraged.
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