Havre de Grace Mardi Gras Parade Set For Fat Tuesday

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — The Havre de Grace Mardi Gras parade is slated for March 1.

Parade individuals will journey down Bourbon Road to Washington Road earlier than ending on the American Legion on St. John Road, organizers say.

The parade will happen at 6:30 p.m. and run till 7:30 p.m.

It is going to happen on Fats Tuesday, marking the start of Mardi Gras, a centuries-old custom celebrated by the French with elaborate masquerade balls and avenue events from the feast of the Epiphany in early January till Ash Wednesday.

The primary day of March is Fats Tuesday, a day of indulgence and even debauchery earlier than the start of Lent, a time of fasting and abstinence in Catholicism and another Christian denominations.

Fats Tuesday and Mardi Gras celebrations are a final alternative to chop unfastened earlier than the Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday and different holy days via Good Friday and Easter on April 17.

Those that want to take part within the parade can contact the Havre de Grace Customer Middle at 410-939-2100.

What Is Mardi Gras?

French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville introduced the custom to America once they landed close to present-day New Orleans on March 3, 1699. Realizing it was the eve of the festive vacation, they held a small celebration on the touchdown spot, which they christened as Level du Mardi Gras, in keeping with Historical past.com.

A celebration within the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Cell in 1703, and in New Orleans in 1718, in keeping with a historical past on the Mardi Gras New Orleans web site.

The rowdy New Orleans Mardi Gras had been halted when the Spanish dominated the Massive Simple from 1762 to 1800, and U.S. authorities did the identical after taking management of town in 1803 and outlawed each masked balls and public disguises. The bans had been lifted when Louisiana turned a state in 1812. Louisiana is the one state to make Mardi Gras a authorized vacation.

Is Fats Tuesday Totally different?

Fat Tuesday is the English translation of Mardi Gras from French. It is so named as a nod to the lavish feasts that had been ready to eat — relatively than waste — meals comparable to meats, eggs, dairy merchandise, sweets and different meals that will be sacrificed throughout the holy Lenten season, the 40 days main as much as Easter.

Relying on the place you reside (and your palate), it’s possible you’ll observe Fats Tuesday as Pancake Day, which originated in the UK; Faschnaut Day, a practice in German communities; and Paczki Day in Polish enclaves. Each faschnaut and paczki translate to “doughnuts.”

King cakes are additionally eaten, although in keeping with legend, these truffles ceaselessly seem from the Epiphany on Jan. 6 via Fats Tuesday to mark the arrival of the three sensible males to Bethlehem to ship items to the new child Jesus. A plastic child is commonly hidden contained in the truffles.

What Occurs On Ash Wednesday?

In Roman Catholic church buildings, ashes are utilized within the form of a cross on the foreheads of the devoted. In lots of instances, they put on the crosses all through the day to publicly profess their religion.

The ashes symbolize penance, mourning and mortality. Sometimes, the priest will apply the ashes whereas saying, “Bear in mind you’re mud, and unto mud you shall return.”

The ashes are ready by burning palm leaves from the earlier 12 months’s Palm Sunday celebration, which falls yearly on the Sunday earlier than Easter.

Different Christians observing Ash Wednesday embrace Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and different Protestants. Some Baptists observe Ash Wednesday, however a majority of evangelical and Pentecostal Christians don’t. Mormons additionally don’t observe Ash Wednesday.

Lent Leads Up To Holy Week

In Western Christianity, the final week of Lent is called Holy Week.

It begins on Palm Sunday, this 12 months on April 10, the day commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The trail he traveled was coated in palm branches, and congregants in lots of church buildings are given palms to hold with them to Palm Sunday worship providers.

Listed below are different necessary dates to know:

April 14: Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, commemorating the Final Supper, the ultimate meal Jesus shared together with his disciples.

April 15: Good Friday observes Christ’s crucifixion. In some church buildings, purple or black cloths are positioned over spiritual objects. Some Christians quick, consuming just one substantial meal.

April 17: Lent ends with Easter, which commemorates Christ’s resurrection, and white cloths change the darker cloths shrouding spiritual objects. Celebrations are joyous, a distinction to the somber observance of Lent.

Patch editor Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.