Pre-Lenten Customs

1. The Depositio

As Septuagesima (Latin for "seventy") is seventy days before Easter, it typologically commemorates the
seventy years of exile spent by the Jews in Babylon. As Psalm 136 attests, God's chosen people did not deem it
fit to sing their joyous songs from Sion during the Babylonian exile, and neither do Catholics during theirs. The
joyful "Alleluia" is thus laid to rest for seventy days until it rises again in the Easter Vigil. As mentioned
elsewhere, this dismissal, or depositiio, of the Alleluia can take place formally in a special ceremony. After the
Saturday office of None or at some point of the afternoon on the day before Septuagesima Sunday, the choir
gathers in the church where it carries a plaque or banner bearing the word "Alleluia" through the church as it
sings the touching hymn, "Alleluia, dulce carmen" . It is then solemnly "buried" in some place in the church. In
the Middle Ages this procession could become quite elaborate. Sometimes the "Alleluia" plaque would be in the
shape of a coffin, while in parts of France, a straw man with the word "Alleluia" was even burned in effigy in
the churchyard. A simpler ceremony based on the same principles, however, can easily be held in one's home or
parish.

2. Voluntary Fasting

It was customary for some Christians to voluntarily begin fasting in preparation for the Great Fast of Lent.
Their fasts would become progressively more ascetic, culminating in the abstinence of meat beginning on the
Thursday before Ash Wednesday. The name for this period, which ends the day before Ash Wednesday, is
"Carnival," from the Latin carne levarium, meaning "removal of meat."

3. Shrovetide

It might sound odd that during the period of "Carnival" there occurs some of the most decadent feasting of the
liturgical year. There is, however, a pious (if not somewhat convoluted) logic behind this consumption. Because
not only meat but lacticinia (dairy products) were originally prohibited during Lent, Christians knew that they
had to eat these foods before Ash Wednesday or they would spoil. The last days before Lent were thus spent in
eating copious amounts of fat dishes. From this necessity comes England's famous Shrove Tuesday Pancakes
and northern England's Collop Monday (a collop is made of sliced meat and eggs fried in butter). This also
gave rise to the most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Christian party of all: Mardi
Gras. Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," is the French celebration of the final day before Lent. In this country it is
associated mostly with the Cajun and Creole cuisine of New Orleans, two culinary traditions that provide a
myriad of spicy, delicious dishes. One of the

more interesting customs of the New Orleans Mardi Gras is the baking of a King's Cake, in which is placed a
small doll of the Infant Jesus. The person whose piece of cake has the doll must provide the cake for next year's
party.
4. Forty Hours' Devotion

Because the Shrovetide celebrations became prone to excess and scandal, Pope Benedict XIV instituted in 1748
the Forty Hours of Carnival, especially in those areas prone to such reveling. During this devotion the Blessed
Sacrament is exposed during the day and Benediction held in the evening.