The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1899-02-16
|B|LL ARP ON THE SEASON
When Feast Days and Fast Days
Are Numerous.
He EXPLAINS MARDI CRAS
II Tells About Ash Wednesday aad
Forty Days Aftersard Genes Easter
Oth:r r. ast Days.

Is to be ready to explain them to the
children. Our numerous pos.eriiy
have inquiring minds and had rather
would tell them than to study them
out for mselves. It mortifies my
pride If they ask me historical or alb
struse questions that l cannot answer.
aud SO try to keep ahead and main
tain my reputation for wisdom rs did
Goidsnith's schoolmaster hose pupils
wondered 'how one small head could
carry all it knew"
Now they want to know about st.
Valentine and st. Patrick and mardi
gras and Ash Wednesday, and so had
to explain how it WAS that St Vaien-
tines day aud Shrove Tuesday, or
mardi gras day, came together this
year, and how the first was fixed, but
tho other was movable because Easter
was. And | had to tell them how st.
Valentine was o Christian martyr who
was beheaded in tho third century,
and he was such good. kind, loving
man that he was afterwards caEonized
aud enrolled among the saints and a
day set apart to his memory. 1t was
believed in the olden time that the
birds mated on that day, and SO it was
the custom for young people to choose
their sweethearts and send loving let
ters to each other. They don't do that
now TO any alarming extent, but send
the most ridiculous End hateful pic.
lures aud hurt feelings instead Of max.
ing love, and l know that the good
saint is grieved and mortified about it.
Mardi gras day is near At hand and
the railroads have advertised cheap
schedules to New Orleans, for that is
tho only city in the United States where
the French and Italians and creoles are
numerous enough and foolish enough
to perpetuate this idiotic carnival.
Mardi means Mars, the god of war, and
gras means fat In French 1t is called
b0euf gras, or fat OK. In English it
means fat Tuesday. In the Roman
Catholic calendar it is called Shrove
Tuesday. These names of fat Mars,
fat OK and fat Tuesday all come from q
custom of the butchers in Venice who
ON the day before Lent selected the
| finest, largest and latest OK they could
find and dressed him up in fancy
costume AMI bedecked him with flowers
and set little boy on his back and Leo
him through the streets with banners
waving and drums beating and children
shouting and following along just like
our boys and negroes follow the band
! wagon of a circus now -adays. Some
say that the butchers started this
parade to let their customers know
they wouldent have any moro meat for
forty days and so they had better cut a
good deal that day and that the fat OK
would be slaughtered at noon for q
banquet that night. From this isno-
bic beginning the annual celebration
Of Shrove Tuesday grew and grew into
a great frollc by day and revelry by
night, and as the display was more
magnificent in Venice than in any other
city it was called the carnival of Venice.
Now, children, you must know that
the word carnival is Latin word aud
means farewell to flesh, for the mex,
day was the beginning of Lent, and nc
flesh was to be eaton for forty days.
The first day of Lent was called Ash
Wednesday because the priests hum.
bled the people by throwing ashes or
their foreheads. The ashes are mixei
with something that makes them sticl
Tor while. It is en- old ceremony tina
came down from the Jews. The day
before Lent is called Shrove Tuesday
because on that day the church people
gathered in the churches and professei
penitence and were shriven or shrov,
or absolved from their sins by tn
priests. This was done early in thu
morning and they felt SO good and ST
secure of salvation that they dancet
aud pranced and Toasted and frolicket
with great hilarity and many of then
joined in the mardi gras or carnivs
and cut up scandalous. Well, mayb
if we Protestants believed that on
l al, 81,
and make our salvation certain "
would prance around. too, and on
preachers would be better paid tina
they are now.
But this carnival or mardi gras ha
degenerated into the extreme of dis
sipation aud Incorporate hilarity
having neither penitence nor absolute
in it. The pageant in the streets is
money. Magnificent chariots, draw
by fine horses, dressed with sta,
spangled harness, with drivers dresse
like the gods and carrying beautif,
women arrayed like the goddesses, an
while delicious music filled the mir, an
gorgeous embloms streams from ever
window. All, the charm Of it, til
beauty of it It makes ono feel as di
, the old woman who for the FIRST tin
went to a circus, and when the gran
cavalcade of span gled horses and ride
. came marching in, whispered to IL
old man, ''John-l say John-hit
| more like the kingdom of heaven tbs
anything [ ever expected to see on tn
! earth. And that is about as ne
heaven as the jewellers will ever ge
for as the night follows the day, SO fo
= lows the extreme of hilarious di
, slpation and shameless indulgence
!. appetite and passion. Truly
Z "There was q sound Of revelry
night,
"And the Queen City had gathere
there
- "Her beauty and her--what?"
- What dissertation of the day OF ne,
: itence and absolution! But our Prote
;, tant people do almost as bad in Ii
n way they observe Christmas, and tn
y holy day has become senseless hol
a day.
= But, my children, there are mar
other notable church DAYS about tn
time of the year. Easter will come
y the close of Lent, and you know VIII
\ that commentaries. In the meantin
- We will have ST. Patrick's Day on Il
18th of March. He was another GOO
man who came to Ireland during Il
!. fifth century as a missionary and CO
a. verted the whole island to the Chri
a tian faith, and as the Irish believe, e
IA terminated all the snakes and venor
"a ous insects and reptiles. Next com
In Palm Sunday, when the priests BILE
"a thousands of palms and give them
the people in commemoration of VIII
the converted Jews did for the Saw
a. when He entered into Jerusale,
a Then, there are the three ember day
ID which come en- the ED. "a and 25th
,e this month. These are to be observ
Or with fasting and prayer, because tn
oe represent the opening of spring-t
vernal equinox-I'when the winter
- over sand gone, and the time for I
7" singing of birds has come, aud I
a. voices of the twittled dove is heard
n the land" The truth is, the ROM
- | N~$hol;n o1nrok h,a Lee k,,k Co. \ .