Is There An Orthodox “Ash Wednesday?” What About Carnival?
This upcoming weekend is the carnival in the majority of Roman Catholic communities - New Orleans (Mardi-Gras), Central America, all of South America (Brazil, Colombia etc.), France, Italy and even Switzerland. But what is carnival about?
Understanding Carnival
Carnival is always the weekend before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Great Lent for Roman Catholics), ending on Shrove Tuesday (sometimes including a pancake celebration in some communities), which is to say - it is the last “hurrah” before the upcoming fasting period finishing with the radiant feast of Pascha. Mardi-Gras is also carnival, just the French name for it - literally “fat Tuesday,” which then brings us to the topic of Shrove or Pancake Tuesday. Just as carnival (literally meaning “farewell meat” - carne vale) is the time for us to get all the partying out of our system before Great Lent, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in the Roman Catholics communities is the day to use-up all the eggs, milk, cream etc. in the house. This also explains the French name of “fat Tuesday.”
A Ukrainian Carnival
While not many of our Ukrainian Canadian communities celebrate it anymore, it was a tradition to have a пущення (puschennia) before Meatfare Sunday - a general zabava where we could sing, dance, drink, eat yummy meat and dairy dishes etc. - coming from прощатися, meaning to bid farewell. Another difference for many Ukrainians is that in the Orthodox Church, the lead-up to the Great Fast is a three-week period with
One fast-free week - no fasting of Wednesday or Friday
One meatfare week - final week to eat meat and
One cheesefare week - a final week to eat cheese and dairy products.
For those growing up in Ukraine over the last several decades, this period also had other names the various regions such as Масниця, Сирниця, Сиропусний тиждень, Колодка, Колодій, Запусти, Пущення, Туриця... It is worth it to note that with Russian influence in some regions, this carnival period was also known as Маслениця, where it seems that the Russian Church combined all three preparatory weeks are combined into one week.
Saying Goodbye With Nalysnyky
As with the Roman Catholic Church, these preparatory weeks were also a final time to enjoy and use-up any of the products we would not be able to use during the Fast. In our parish, we have started the tradition of a Nalysnyky Festival - Фестиваль налисників to help enjoy the final few weeks of eating dairy before lent!
Ash Wednesday is All Week Long
As was mentioned above, the Roman Catholics start the Great Fast on the Wednesday, 40 days before Pascha. The Orthodox Church, on the other hand, does not include Holy Week in the 40-day count and as such starts the Great Fast on a Monday (making it 55 days in total). Why 40 days? We are commemorating the number of the days that our Lord, Jesus Christ fasted while in the desert, before His own suffering.
Many of us have likely heard of the tradition of putting ash on the forehead or head by Roman Catholics, but what does it mean? Well, their understanding is that the ash represents death and serves as a reminder to repent: “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall [ultimately] return.”
While the Orthodox do not use ash, the Sunday evening before lent is marked by Forgiveness Vespers, when we start asking our soul the sobering questions of what we are doing and asking forgiveness of those around us and of God.
The first week of Great Lent is known as Clean Week, and each evening it is customary to serve the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, an intimate conversation of the saint with his soul, reminding himself “my soul, my soul - why are you sleeping? The end is drawing near. Awake and be watchful!”
While still a few weeks away from Meatfare and Cheesefare week, we invite you to join us for our Nalysnyky Festivals at both the Cathedral and Chapel!