A wee bit of Catholic Trivia from the folks at American Catholic:"Mardi Gras... 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.
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.... Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning "farewell to the flesh."
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."
Tomorrow begins our Spiritual Olympics! So buck up, America! Here we go! Farewell french fries! Ciao chocolate! Auf weidersehen Pepsi! Hello holy discipline! Let's get spiritually toned up!
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