Tuesday Fat and other revelations
I learned a little today.
Today I was reflecting on an email my mother sent regarding the usual "this and that" in which she mentioned Ash Wednesday services. During my lifetime Ash Wednesday has always a big Catholic event, but has always been a rather low key event for the Methodists. It is the beginning of the Lent period which is the runup for Easter. I decided to look historically into Lent a bit closer and interestingly enough I find that I never made a few connections here.
I always knew that Mardi Gras occurred prior to Lent, but I never realized the festivities had a specific calander date for starting. The annual Mardi Gras festivities start on January 6, but always end with "Fat Tuesday" which is 46 days prior to Easter. That lands "Fat Tuesday" on the day before Ash Wednesday as pracitised in our neck of the woods where Lent is supposed to start 40 days before Easter, but they don't count Sundays. Got that?
I also learn that "Mardi Gras" means "Tuesday Fat" in French, or so I am told. Since other languages like to put their adjectives in strange places we have the words mixed around.
Lastly I read that ashes on the face are an ancient symbol of mourning similar to wearing black clothing, or a black armband as might also be worn today. I also read an explanation of Ash Wednesday on a couple of Catholic websites and didn't understand a word of their explanation which detailed all manner of Catholic events and such as background. The article started out like this, "The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast..." Quinquagesima? Drop that puppy into a spelling bee and you will clear the room in one round. I can't even guess how to pronounce it.
Anyway, Ash Wednesday is a good time for reflection. I would suggest we all take this opportunity to reflect on what is important in our lives.
I hope you learned a little, too.
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