The beginning of March launches the first of several holidays and traditions with Roman Catholic roots such as Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lent and St. Patrick’s Day. While they date back ...

and continues until Mardi Gras, which is the final day of feasting, drinking and revelry before Ash Wednesday and the fasting associated with Lent, the Christian season of preparation for Easter.

Mardi Gras arrived in the United States in the late ... foods and party through the night before the self-denial season of Lent began for Christians. But even after France decamped from the ...

The carnival period, with its decreased rules, culminated with one last day of celebration, Mardi Gras, followed by a period of fasting, Lent. In Louisiana, the period of parades and celebrations ...

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. This picture shows Catholic worshippers at a Mass in Washington DC. Their foreheads are marked with crosses of black ash. Mardi Gras is French for ‘Fat ...

Wrapping up the season, Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday arrives every year on the Tuesday before Lent. This year, that’s March 4. As Skull and Bones parades through Tremé, there’s drumming and chanting.

The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence, according to Britannica. STANLEY'S PARADE ...