The Catholic Roots of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras celebrants in New Orleans

Did you know that Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a celebration grounded in the Catholic liturgical calendar? Mardi Gras falls at the end of the period known as Carnival, a time of celebration in Europe and the Americas that connected the feast of the Epiphany with the beginning of Lent. The day of Mardi Gras itself was marked by feasting; not as an opportunity to overindulge, but out of the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the rigorous fasting of Lent.

Read here for more information on the Catholic origins of Mardi Gras.