Lent, Mardi Gras, and Carnival

Since the churches I've been around most of my life do not celebrate Lent at all, I had no idea where the word came from, or really even what it represented. Yesterday I was surprised to learn that "lent" is simply a shortened form of "lenten," which is in turn an alternate pronunciation of "lengthen" and refers to the lengthening of days at this time of the year.

In other words, there is no real religious significance in the term at all! However, thanks to the timing of Easter and to Constantine's placement of Christmas at the winter solstice, there is now a beautiful correspondence of nature with the major Christian holidays/ holy days. The birth of Christ-- at the darkest point of the year-- is a symbol of hope and of the coming of light; similarly, His resurrection coincides with the end of death's reign and the renewal of life. "Lenten" fits in well with this natural procession.

As you probably know, Mardi Gras (literally, "Fat Tuesday" in French) is a reference to the custom of feasting on the day before Ash Wednesday . . . actually a very practical custom to those operating on the traditional church calendar, since any meat in the house might otherwise have gone bad during the long Lenten season of abstinence. The corresponding Carnivale ("carni vale" or "goodbye to meat") represented not only a literal goodbye to the eating of meat/ flesh, but also a goodbye to fleshly desires as people set aside excess and focused on self-denial to commemorate the passion of Christ.

Paradoxically (but in true revelation of human nature!), "carni vale" became the opportunity for one grand "goodbye" party! Thus a carnival, as we recognize the word today, is entirely a celebration of the flesh rather than a goodbye to it.

Note: Helleborus purpurascens, below, is a "Lenten rose" that sometimes blooms during Lent in the somber purple that is the traditional color used in sanctuaries for most of this season.