MARDI GRAS' BEGINNINGS EMBEDDED IN FAITH, LENT

To some today is Fat Tuesday. To others it is Carnival or Shrove Tuesday. To most it is Mardi Gras.

The image that many have of Mardi Gras is of wild parties and elaborate parades through the streets of New Orleans with masked and costumed revelers.

But the tradition of Mardi Gras, which literally means "Fat Tuesday" in French, is tied to ancient traditions of faith and the practices of Lent in the church.

Lent, the 40-day period preceding Easter, is a time of spiritual preparation for Christians. The 40 days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday and continue until Easter and are meant to remind Christians of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness.

"It is a time for Catholics and all Christians to step back and spiritually prepare for Easter," said the Rev. J. Friedel of the Catholic Campus Ministries at Southeast Missouri State University.

Friedel said that during Lent the emphasis was on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. During Lent the faithful will often sacrifice things in order to make them more mindful of spiritual matters, Friedel said.

"If we take out of life some of the extras, then it's easier to fill the empty spaces with God," Friedel said. "Fasting can empty us out so God can fill up the spaces."

The tradition of Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras came out of a time when rules about fasting and abstinence were "much more severe," he said.

As a part of their Lenten sacrifice, people wouldn't use any fats to cook with during Lent. Because of the sacrifice, they had to get rid of the fats before Lent began. On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday people would use as many of the fats in their cooking as they could. Thus it was called Fat Tuesday.

"Obviously there is not as much meaning in it today when we are already watching our fat intake," Friedel said.

The British call the day "Pancake Day" because traditionally British Catholics use up their eggs, milk and butter before Lent begins by making pancakes.

The tradition of serving pancakes on the Tuesday before Lent has continued in many households and churches.

"It's a throwback to the Fat Tuesday idea of living the day to excess," said the Rev. Joel Sarrault, pastor of the Eiselben Lutheran Church in Scott City. "Over the years it has been distilled down in many places in the Midwest to pancake suppers."

Sarrault's church will hold a pancake and sausage supper beginning at 4:30 p.m. today as a part of their pre-Lenten tradition.

"We don't do gumbo or Mardi Gras parades," he said.

Sarrault said that traditionally Lent has been a time of special repentance, prayer and meditation in which Christians prepare for Holy Week and Easter. The tradition of giving things up for Lent, he said, has generally been more a part of the Roman Catholic rather than the Protestant tradition.

"That may be OK, but we need to think of Lent not as a forced diet plan," he said. "We need to give things up for spiritual reasons."

In many places, today is referred to as "carnival," a word associated with festivals, masquerades and games. But the name also has its religious roots, coming from Latin and meaning "removal of meat" or "farewell to the flesh." For many, it was the last day to eat meat before the Lenten fast began.

Even today many Christians do not eat meat on Fridays during the Lenten season as a mark of their religious devotion. The key, said Friedel, is that the act should make Christians mindful of their spiritual life.

"To many, eating fish on Fridays is not as much a sacrifice as it used to be," Friedel said.

"I tell the students, 'Don't go out and eat lobster Friday night and tell me you're making a sacrifice,'" he said.