| In Christian communities around the world, the 40 days preceeding Easter comprise Lent, a period of fasting and penitence. It begins with Ash Wednesday, the day many Catholics go to church to receive the sign of the cross marked in ash on their foreheads, its purpose being to remind them of their own mortality. For much of the country the Tuesday before Lent is just that, a Tuesday, but in New Orleans this Tuesday is "Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday," representing the last gasp of decadence before a period of austerity. |
