Lent
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Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according
High altar, barren, with few adornments, as is custom during Lent
An Evangelical-Lutheran Mass at Hedvig Eleonora Church on the sixth Sunday of Lent. Purple is the liturgical colour of the Lenten season.
Lent observers, including a confraternity of penitents, carrying out a street procession during Holy Week, in Granada, Nicaragua. The violet colour is often associated with penance and detachment. Similar Christian penitential practice is seen in other Christian countries, sometimes associated with fasting.
In Western traditions, the liturgical colour of the season of Lent is violet. Altar crosses and religious statuary which show Christ in his glory are traditionally veiled during this period in the Christian year.
Mardi Gras
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Mardi Gras, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the final day of Carnival; it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it
Lent
…of carrying Shrovetide rods and consuming Shrovetide buns after attending church are celebrated. On the final day of the season, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, many traditional Christians, such as Catholics, Evangelical-Lutherans and Anglicans, among others "make a special point of self-examination, of…
Celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Mardi Gras in Dakar, Senegal
Mardi Gras in Marseille, France
Mardi Gras in Binche, Belgium