Carnival as it relates to Ash Wednesday

[vaio]

ok...if this is a stupid question...dont laff eh...

i want to know why is it that certain countries or islands celebrate carnival before the start of lent....and why is it that some do not observe carnival??

[snowbird]

A Wiseman once said..... "the only stupid question is the one that was never asked"

The only relationship Carnival is to Ash Wednesday is the fact that it is positioned just before it, and for very good reason.

'From My Understanding'.....
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and as Lent is a time of Penitence, some societies have elected to have some sort of a 'last indulgence' just before they begin that time of penitence; for some societies it is Carnival, for others it is Shove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday as we call it here in Canada; there may be others yet, but I'm just familiar with the two (having lived in both societies).

source http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... nt_2.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/lent_2.shtml)
Religion & Ethicts / Christianity

Shrove TuesdayPrintable Version
Shrove Tuesday

Pancakes ©
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent starts: the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.

Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day.

But there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Penitence
Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them.

When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them.

In the Catholic or Orthodox context, the absolution is pronounced by a priest.

This tradition is very old. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes:

In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him.
Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes
Shrove Tuesday celebrations
Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent.

Giving up foods: but not wasting them
In the old days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods.

So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras ('fat Tuesday'). Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

The origin of pancake racing
Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. A woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen.

Suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to call the faithful to church for confession. The woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

Going for gold in the pancake Olympics
One of the most famous pancake races is held at Olney in Buckinghamshire over a 415 yard course. The rules are strict; contestants have to toss their pancake at both the start and the finish, as well as wearing an apron and a scarf. The race is followed by a church service.

Since 1950 Olney has competed with Liberal in Kansas, which holds an identical race, to see which town can produce the fastest competitor. After the 2000 race, Liberal was leading with 26 wins to Olney's 24.

[Triniboy108]

according to wikipedia:

Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago originally had its roots in West African festivals, facilitated by conservative French aristocracy's carnival celebrations where masks were donned and social visits ensued. Whed - the use of drums and religious practices had been outlawed, the slaves, and then former slaves found novel ways to pass on their heritage. Carnival then grew with African influences from the slaves who added singing, dancing, and music as well as exuberance to Carnival to transform it into what we see today. Carnival is celebrated two days before Ash Wednesday in the season of Lent. In the earliest times similar celebrations were held at the end of crops being harvested (hence the Crop Over celebrations in some other islands). However, as these became more oppressed, the only permissible time was when the aristocracy was engaged in their own merriment and debauchery - the pre-lentern festival tied to the Roman Catholic idea of carne vale (farewell to the flesh).