Posted on 02/21/2004 4:56:40 PM PST by missyme
Mardi Gras' Catholic Roots
Mardi Gras, literally "Fat Tuesday," has grown in popularity in recent years as a raucous, sometimes hedonistic event. But its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the "last hurrah" before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That's why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of streetsweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home.
What is less known about Mardi Gras is its relation to the Christmas season, through the ordinary-time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival. (Ordinary time, in the Christian calendar, refers to the normal "ordering" of time outside of the Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter seasons. There is a fine Scripture From Scratch article on that topic if you want to learn more.)
Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning "farewell to the flesh." Like many Catholic holidays and seasonal celebrations, it likely has its roots in pre-Christian traditions based on the seasons. Some believe the festival represented the few days added to the lunar calendar to make it coincide with the solar calendar; since these days were outside the calendar, rules and customs were not obeyed.
Others see it as a late-winter celebration designed to welcome the coming spring. As early as the middle of the second century, the Romans observed a Fast of 40 Days, which was preceded by a brief season of feasting, costumes and merrymaking.
The Carnival season kicks off with the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings' Day and, in the Eastern churches, Theophany. Epiphany, which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas, celebrates the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. In cultures that celebrate Carnival, Epiphany kicks off a series of parties leading up to Mardi Gras.
Epiphany is also traditionally when celebrants serve King's Cake, a custom that began in France in the 12th century. Legend has it that the cakes were made in a circle to represent the circular routes that the Wise Men took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ Child.
In the early days, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found the item was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, bakers now put a small baby, representing the Christ Child, in the cake; the recipient is then expected to host the next King Cake party.
There are well-known season-long Carnival celebrations in Europe and Latin America, including Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The best-known celebration in the U.S. is in New Orleans and the French-Catholic communities of the Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras came to the New World in 1699, when a French explorer arrived at the Mississippi River, about 60 miles south of present day New Orleans. He named the spot Point du Mardi Gras because he knew the holiday was being celebrated in his native country that day.
Eventually the French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties, until the Spanish government took over in the mid-1700s and banned the celebrations. The ban continued even after the U.S. government acquired the land but the celebrations resumed in 1827. The official colors of Mardi Gras, with their roots in Catholicism, were chosen 10 years later: purple, a symbol of justice; green, representing faith; and gold, to signify power.
Mardi Gras literally means "Fat Tuesday" in French. The name comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fattened calf on the last day of Carnival. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from "to shrive," or hear confessions), Pancake Tuesday and fetter Dienstag. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.
There are times in the life of every believer when prayer and fasting are "appropriate" - those times are not enumerated in Scripture:
Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
1Cor 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
In the Mark passage, Jesus tells his disciples that there are times when they can accomplish something (in this, casting out demons) only through "prayer and fasting."
In the Corinthians passage, the Apostle Paul tells his readers that there are going to be times in the life of a married couple when they are to cease from their normal activity as a couple to devote themselves to fasting and prayer...but that is not all the time, and it certainly doesn't specify a certain "season" - but when it is appropriate.
Now, having diverted attention from the original question, where in the Scriptures are "Mardo Gras" and "Lent" identified?
How hard can the question be? We are not discussing computers and modems, we are discussing religious activity - activity that is, if I am not mistaken, mandatory for all Roman Catholic believers (and a few Anglicans, as well) - So I am asking for Scriptural references for "Mardi Gras" and "Lent." - or is it that it is a "tradition" of the Church, without scripture justification? I don't care what your answer is, I would just like an answer. Again, how hard is that?
You got my answer. If it ain't in the bible does that mean that it is prohibited?
You really don't want to go there, do you? The Gospels were written by some guys named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Many of the epistles were writtne by the Apostle Paul, others by James, Peter, and Jude. Where are the Roman Catholic authors in that group (Peter doesn't count - he never went to Rome)
And the Old Testament: Moses, Daniel, many prophets, Solomon, etc...again, no Roman Catholics in that group either.
Fasting and prayer are good and wonderful things. If you check church history, you will discover that Lent is not patterned after Christ's 40 days in the wilderness. But, if there is no scripture, and you think that I am opposed to something that you engage in freely and willingly, then why does the Church REQUIRE your participation?
It is my home :)
Believe me, you don't wanna engage with me about Ecclesiastical and/or Liturgical History.
18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
Jesus gave Peter The Keys. Papa says "Fast," you have two choices.
One, obey and be in agreement with Heaven which ratifies the Popes disciplinary actions.
Two, do what you desire and oppose Papa and Heaven.
It's really all up to you; there being Free will and whatnot.
Have a nice day
And, you might want to check the Greek in the passage you quoted on Peter. There are two different words that are used for "rock" - one being the equivalent of Half Dome in Yosemite and the other a pebble...guess which one was used of Peter? There is just no credible evidence that Peter was the first Pope...it is wishful thinking, at best.
But...obviously this discussion is going nowhere...neither of us will be dissuaded...so I am going to break off this thread.
+ grace and peace to you +
Mardi Gras is not a religious occasion, but a social custom. Catholics don't need to give you any Scriptural warrant for something that isn't part of the faith, but just something that some Catholics do. (Some Catholics like to eat steak on Sundays. Do we need Scriptural justification for that, as well?)
As for Lent, have you not read that Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry? Fasting to draw closer to God is a Biblical custom. Repentance, which is the theme of Lent, is a divine command. Do I really need to show you that from the Scriptures?
This argument is false. It has been completely destroyed in a number of places, most notably in a book called Jesus, Peter, and the Keys. The word "petrus" meant pebble only in classical Greek poetry, not in the Koine Greek of the NT. And Jesus could not have said "You are 'Petra' and on this 'petra' I will build my Church" if He'd wanted to, because "Petra" has feminine gender and can't be a man's given name. He had to use "Petrus" for Peter's name, because he had to use the masculine form.
Just bad Protestant polemic resting on ignorance of the Greek language.
As for the "Babylonian Mystery religion" garbage, read Ralph Woodrow's book, "Babylon Connection". Woodrow is a Baptist who used to swallow the whole Babylonian fish. He's still a Baptist, just one who thinks critically enough to demolish stupid arguments ... a practice I would encourage you to adopt.
I, myself, am very happy, having begun Lent right today: Forgiveness Verpers, and a day of fasting ending with Great Compline with the (entire) Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. Very sobering in its call to repentence and self-accusation.
And, since it is our custom at the start of the Great Fast: forgive me, my brother, if I have offended you.
Gibson's movie will feature dialogue in Aramaic becuase that was the language of the time. It was the language Jesus spoke and Matthew was originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek.
The reason for your confusion lies in the fact the word used for Peter is "petros" a masculine noun while the word used for Rock is "petra" a feminine noun.
In the Aramaic language Jesus used, Jesus said, "You are Kepha (Rock) and upon this Kepha (Rock) I will build my Church.
Many Bibles still use the transliteration of Kepha, Cephas.
Any apologia for your Confession needs no apologies nor any implied denigration of your brothers.
Peace, my recalcitrant friend.
No Thanks. I am a Christian not, as you imply, a Pagan. BTW, show me in the Bible where you are Commanded to lie about another's Faith.
Jesus' temptations
538 The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him.241 At the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil leaves him "until an opportune time".242
539 The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfills Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder.243 Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.
540 Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him.244 This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning."245 By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.
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Every single Doctrine the Christian Catholic Church Teaches is Christocentric and your ugly accusations the Church established by Jesus derives its disciplines and practices from paganism is hateful, mephitic, and unworthy of anyone claiming the name Christian.
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