Catholic Carnival 207 — Carpe Deum!

Carnival, the season of revelry before Mardi Gras, officially began on January 6.

Catholic Carnival 207 is based on the Mardi Gras parades which mark the Carnival season in New Orleans. The season begins on January 6 and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. This is the last big hurrah before the penitential season of Lent.

Parade themes are usually inspired by great literature, art, history, and culture. Inspired by your posts, the theme for this Catholic Carnival parade is Carpe Deum.

The Captain, masked, and riding a white horse, guides the parade along its route. Join me, your Captain, and 1st time host of the Catholic Carnival, as we begin our parade.

The King waves to his subjects from his elaborately adorned float.

In honor of our King:
• Bob at Prepare for Mass presents The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
• In, If you want to fight the good fight you first have to find the right ring, Fr. V at Adam’s Ale wants everyone to find the right path to the Heart of God.
• Because it’s January, Kelly at Whimsy-Whimsy: Catholic Homeschool blogs on The Holy Name of Jesus.
• For a reflection on the Mass readings for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, head over to HMS Blog for Mighty and Humble.
• Colleen at Thoughts on Grace shares 3 Reasons I Love to Go to Mass.
• Lyn F. is also Thinking of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this post at Organ-ic Chemist. Although abbreviated, the main point she wanted to make is there.

Along the route, the King stops to toast his Queen. Let us honor our Queen:
• Ever wondered just what the Mother of God has to do with modern women? In Mary, Inspiration for Modern Women, Sarah at Behold Your Mother shares some wisdom from Paul VI and finds relevance for today’s woman.

Each float in the parade has a “title” or name based on the theme.
• In What’s in a Name? Sarah at just another day of Catholic pondering rambles on about why she’s keeping her blog named the way it is and finds herself exploring just what it means to be a catholic Catholic.
• Mondays are now Miracle Mondays at Extraordinary Moms Network. Dedicated to people and stories who inspire her, Heidi hopes that posts like Miracle Mondays: When Courage Sags will inspire you too.

Mardi Gras is filled with pomp and circumstance, as well as Catholic liturgical symbolism. The royal colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. The Rex parade selected these official colors in 1872. Purple represents justice; green represents faith; and gold represents power.

Let us be just, faithful, and powerful:
• Notlukewarm is calling people to prayer with this Novena to Fight FOCA.
• Ruth at This That and the Other Thing gives us Book Review: Emily’s Hope about a novel promoting Catholic sexual morality.
• Lionel at Acid42 is the Soft Asian Enemy invites us to join him in committing to read the Bible and the Catechism all the way through this year. My 2009 Bible and CCC Reading Challenge is definitely a new year’s resolution worth keeping.
• Elena at My Domestic Church recently had an interesting debate/discussion with a liberal Catholic regarding Catholic theology and abortion.

Traditionally one of the first floats in the parade, the boeuf gras, or fatted ox, represents the last meat eaten before our forty day Lenten fast.

Comedy and Tragedy masks are the Greek symbols of the theater, and since during Carnival time all the world’s a stage, they have been adopted as symbols of Mardi Gras.

At the Catholic Carnival, our stages are our blogs where we share our joys and sorrows:
• While Sailing to Byzantium, Bayou Bob, at Politickles, redefined the word “evolution” in Resolution for Personal Evolution.
• Pet lovers will appreciate Prayer Requests for Our Pets, a new blog from Esther of A Catholic Mom in Hawaii where pet owners can request prayers for their pets who are either sick, missing, etc.
• At Book Reviews and More, Steven has posted Bone Marrow Part 4: The Follow-Up, an inspiring interview with the bone marrow recipient from last year’s posts on donating bone marrow.
• In Scooby Doo and the Pesky Dad, James at Real Life Rosary Weblog shares with us his battle with the family television set. I know who won!
• Some people wonder why we have less nuns since Vatican II. In Beyond the veil: Debate continues on why number of nuns is declining Christine at A Catholic View suggests we look at the orders that are thriving.

“Throw me something, Mister!” Float riders began throwing trinkets to the crowds in the 1870s. This tradition still continues. Mardi Gras “throws” include beads, doubloons, cups, and even stuffed animals.

You provided the unique “throws” for this parade:
• In honor of the centenary of Father Tabb’s death in 1909, The Blog from the Core presents Tabb Centenary Year II: Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb. This is the second installment of a selection of his poetry to be blogged throughout the year.
• Mary at Broken Alabaster has some practical advice for us all in 10 Tips for Attending Mass Well.
• Reflecting on what God is calling us to do now that the Christmas season has ended, Jean at Catholic Fire presents Christmas is over… now what?

And just for fun:
• Evann at Homeschool Goodies has posted a recipe and history of the King Cake traditionally served throughout the Carnival season.

Special thanks to all who contributed to this Catholic Carnival! Learn more about the Catholic Carnival. Get involved, and submit a post!

Float images courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum Carnival Collection