Lent = Fasting, Reflection & Preparation

February 26, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

Once the Carnival Season ends on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), it is followed on the very next day by Ash Wednesday, which starts the Lenten period. Originally, I thought that the Carnival Season and Mardi Gras were developed to counterbalance the fasting required during Lent.

However, most historians think that ancient rituals of fertility performed by different tribes were the roots of Carnival/Mardi Gras, and/or that these celebrations were a reward for surviving harsh winters and welcomed spring’s arrival. Therefore, these “fun” celebrations appear to have an origin long before Lent.

At first the word Lent simply meant Spring; then the Church sense of “period between Ash Wednesday and Easter” was developed and that sense of the word is peculiar to English.

After researching several Catholic sponsored web sites, I found that the timeline for Easter and the Lenten period was not established until 325 A.D., when the Council of Nicaea determined that Easter should be celebrated the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback on this posting.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”

Jim C Quiz – Lenten Season.pdf

Mardi Gras = Last Day To Party

February 19, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

The Carnival Season is one of the unique events celebrated in the month of February, and the famous Carnival in Rio de Janeiro always starts on Saturday and ends on “Fat Tuesday” (Mardi Gras), which is the day before Ash Wednesday.

Just as with Carnival Season, you can quickly find a multitude of details by searching the internet, where most of the sites confirm that Mardi Gras has been celebrated for thousands of years. Some historians think that ancient rituals of fertility performed by different tribes were the roots of Mardi Gras. Other historians believe these celebrations were a reward for surviving harsh winters and were rituals to welcome Spring’s arrival.

Once again, one of the most interesting aspects of researching Mardi Gras was to find that the early Christian Church sanctioned the pagan-like celebration to help counterbalance Lent, which required fasting and religious rigors for the 40 days. Apparently, the early Church routinely incorporated long standing pagan celebrations into appropriate Feast Days in order to attract more people to Christianity.

One other interesting piece of information was that the colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. There is no real meaning of the choice of colors, but it is generally accepted that purple stands for justice, green for faith and gold for power.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback on this posting.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen”

Jim C Quiz – Mardi Gras.pdf

Chinese New Year = Peace & Happiness

February 12, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

Another unique event that happens this year in the month of February is the celebration of the Chinese New Year on February 18th.  The celebration, known as the “Spring Festival” (China), “Sol” (Korea) and “Tet” (Vietnam), is the oldest and most important festival in China.

The start of the Chinese New Year is the second new moon after the winter soltice, which is often one month later than the New Year on the Gregorian calendar.

The celebration of the “Spring Festival” originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC- 1100 BC) and is based on the people’s sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of the new year.

The most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days, although the Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback on this posting.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”

Jim C Quiz – Chinese New Year.pdf

Carnival = Letting Go; A Time To Party

February 5, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

One of the unique events in the month of February is the Carnival Season, which concludes just before the start of Lent. The infamous and famous Carnival in Rio de Janeiro always starts on Saturday and ends on “Fat Tuesday” (Mardi Gras), which is the day before Ash Wednesday.

You can quickly find a multitude of details about Carnival by searching the internet, where most of the sites will confirm that the Carnival festivities originated in Italy and then spread to other European countries during the Middle Ages.

The most fascinating aspect of these lively and gluttonous festivities appears to be that the early Christian Church somewhat sanctioned Carnival as a counterbalance to the fasting and religious rigors required for the 40 days of Lent.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback on this posting.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”

Jim C Quiz - Carnival.pdf