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n Carnival Becomes Christian Often the early Roman Catholic Church turned festivals that were already celebrated by the local people into religious holidays, partly in an effort to win converts. In 494 c.e. the Catholic Church under Pope Gelasius I adapted Lupercalia into the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a commemoration of the day Mary—after observing the traditional 40-day waiting period of purification after the birth of Jesus—presented her son to God at the Temple of Jerusalem. (Most historians believe Jesus was a real person who grew up in Nazareth, a town in northern Israel. However, the foundation of Christianity lies in the belief that Jesus was not just a person but also the son of God—a divine being in human form.) The Feast of the Purification, more commonly known as Candlemas, is celebrated on February 2 by members of several Christian faiths, most notably Roman Catholics and some Orthodox Christians. Historians believe that the wild

exuberance of Bacchanalia, Saturnalia, and Lupercalia was carried over to the Carnival of today. As time passed, the Carnivals grew famous and spread rapidly across the Catholic countries of Europe. While the general public also participates in the fun during Carnival, the holiday has a special meaning to religious individuals: immediately following the festivities, the somber season of Lent begins. Lent is the 40-day period leading up to Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead after having been crucified on Good Friday. During Lent, Catholics, some Protestants, and Orthodox Christians are expected to practice extreme piety, or goodness; penance, a form of suffering one puts upon him- or herself to make up for previous misdeeds; and abstinence , or self-restraint. They are also expected

Orthodox christians Orthodox Christians separated from the Catholic Church in 1054 when they refused to acknowledge the rule of the Catholic Church’s spiritual leader, Pope Leo IX. Though the Roman Catholic Church follows the Gregorian calendar and the several churches associated with the East- ern Orthodox Church follow the Julian calendar, Carnival is usually celebrated roughly around the same time by both, depending on the date of Easter. Some years the celebration may be as much as a month apart; other years it may fall on the same day.

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