Growing up Catholic, Mardi Gras was always a big deal! Do you celebrate Mardi Gras?
I didn't grow up in New Orleans and I've never been there for Mardi Gras but every year we would go to the Mardi Gras parade where I grew up! And every year, the day before Lent (which I'll post about tomorrow), I would indulge in ice cream or chocolate or whatever I was giving up. I remember one time, I made my mom take me to Sonic at like 9pm to get a milkshake because it was the last time I would indulge in a milkshake until Easter Sunday!
Today, I wanted to share a little bit about Mardi Gras for those of you who don't know much about it!
Mardi Gras is a FRENCH term meaning "Fat Tuesday". It is usually celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which opens the fasting season of Lent in the Catholic Church.
Here is a website that gives the history of Mardi Gras!
Here's a little history that they shared:
In 1872, Purple, Green and Gold became the official colors of Mardi Gras!
The traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold are said to have been chosen by Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch Romanoff of Russia during a visit to New Orleans in 1872. These three colors also have powerful meanings: purple for justice, gold for power and green for faith.
...and the King Cake Tradition began!
The "traditional" king cake is a coffee cake and is oblong and braided. It is iced with purple, green and gold sugar. Each cake contains a hidden small plastic baby and custom says that whoever finds it must either buy the next King cake or throw the next King cake party!
I absolutely love king cake! You can find a yummy recipe for king cake here at Bunny cooks! & they have some yummy ones for sale at Publix (if you live in the southeast).
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MARDI GRAS is a fun tradition to take part in, especially if you celebrate a time of fasting during Lent (the 40 days before Easter). I don't think I'll ever go to New Orleans, LA for Mardi Gras but in the future, I would love to have friends over to celebrate Mardi Gras with a little king cake and wine! I think its a great tradition to start...
Welp, that's all I have for today. I just thought Mardi Gras was a neat tradition and I should share it with all of you. Let me know if you've heard of Mardi Gras, Do you celebrate it?
Thanks for stoppin' by
xoxo Jen.
Thanks for highlighting Mardi gras! Its my favorite tradition from my hometown (new orleans) and am sadly missing it this year! I love reading your posts and how great of a tradition you think it is, Because let me tell you, it is! :)
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Mardi Gras, but only in the drunken debauchery-laiden New Orleans sense of the word. Even that, I've never known too much about - only what I've seen on TV, and I didn't realize it actually had anything to do with the Church calendar, let alone Lent! That's very interesting! I grew up in a Baptist church, and we never really celebrate anything in the Church calendar for some reason (outside of Easter and Christmas, of course). I've been trying to learn more about these things on my own actually, because I like the thought of having yearly remembrances for things. Not sure why my denomination has steered away from that.
ReplyDeleteANYWAY... I've been meaning to practice Lent for the last few years and always discover that it's Lent season like 10 days into it or something (since my church never mentions it, I never know when it's coming). Today, however, I noticed on Twitter that Lent starts TOMORROW!! so I think I'll be doing it this year. And even though I didn't realize Mardi Gras was the feast before the famine, so to speak, I actually have been binging on caffeine today (I plan to give that up for Lent). Lol. So maybe it's just human nature, but I'm already getting in the mood of over-indulging the day before the fast!! Lol.
This was a fascinating post though. Thank you for the explanations! I've never heard of King Cake, but maybe I'll make that next year. It sounds really good! What are some other Mardi Gras / Lent traditions?
Jennifer-
ReplyDeleteA great thing to do during Lent is to take something on, along with the fact that you're giving something up. For example, you might donate to a special charity, do some spiritual reflections/readings every day, or volunteer for a good cause. This way, your sacrifice can have even more meaning. Instead of sitting down for coffee, you can use that same time to pray for someone out there who has NO food at all! It makes the sacrifice feel more meaningful.
Another traditional devotion during Lent is to reflect on the Stations of the Cross (usually on Fridays in particular). http://www.cptryon.org/xpipassio/stations/index.html
Hope that helps! :-)
-Kinsi