Mardi Gras, literally “Fat Tuesday,” has grown in popularity in recent years as a raucous, sometimes hedonistic event. But its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the “last hurrah” before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That’s why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of streetsweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home.

What is less known about Mardi Gras is its relation to the Christmas season, through the ordinary-time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival. (Ordinary time, in the Christian calendar, refers to the normal “ordering” of time outside of the Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter seasons.

Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning “farewell to the flesh.” Like many Catholic holidays and seasonal celebrations, it likely has its roots in pre-Christian traditions based on the seasons. Some believe the festival represented the few days added to the lunar calendar to make it coincide with the solar calendar; since these days were outside the calendar, rules and customs were not obeyed. Others see it as a late-winter celebration designed to welcome the coming spring. As early as the middle of the second century, the Romans observed a Fast of 40 Days, which was preceded by a brief season of feasting, costumes and merrymaking.

The Carnival season kicks off with the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings’ Day and, in the Eastern churches, Theophany. Epiphany, which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas, celebrates the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. In cultures that celebrate Carnival, Epiphany kicks off a series of parties leading up to Mardi Gras.

Epiphany is also traditionally when celebrants serve King’s Cake, a custom that began in France in the 12th century. Legend has it that the cakes were made in a circle to represent the circular routes that the Wise Men took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ Child. In the early days, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found the item was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, bakers now put a small baby, representing the Christ Child, in the cake; the recipient is then expected to host the next King Cake party.

There are well-known season-long Carnival celebrations in Europe and Latin America, including Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The best-known celebration in the U.S. is in New Orleans and the French-Catholic communities of the Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras came to the New World in 1699, when a French explorer arrived at the Mississippi River, about 60 miles south of present day New Orleans. He named the spot Point du Mardi Gras because he knew the holiday was being celebrated in his native country that day.

Eventually the French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties, until the Spanish government took over in the mid-1700s and banned the celebrations. The ban continued even after the U.S. government acquired the land but the celebrations resumed in 1827. The official colors of Mardi Gras, with their roots in Catholicism, were chosen 10 years later: purple, a symbol of justice; green, representing faith; and gold, to signify power.

Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday” in French. The name comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fattened calf on the last day of Carnival. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from “to shrive,” or hear confessions), Pancake Tuesday and fetter Dienstag. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.

 
November is the month that we remember all the faithful departed on the Feast of All Souls.  We will gather as a faith community to remember the faithful departed at the Mass of Remembrance on Sunday, 13 November at 9:00 am. Simple breakfast to follow.

Please pray for those names in the Book of Remembrance.  Keep these and all the Intentions of our parish in your prayers.  Below is a Prayer for our departed brothers and sisters:

To destroy the shroud of death, Lord God, and to wipe away our tears, you promised a joyful feast on your holy mountain, and sent your Son, the Word made flesh, to guide us to that glory.

Bring all the faithful departed to share the victory of the risen Christ.  Give us strength also on our earthly pilgrimage to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and to follow Christ, gladly losing our lives for Jesus and for the sake of the gospel.

We ask this through the Lord Jesus, our Passover and our Peace, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord.
R.      And let perpetual light shine upon him/her.

May he/she rest in peace.
R.     Amen.

May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R.    Amen.

During a press conference Monday, 10 October 2011, Bishop George V. Murry said an allegation against Fr. John Warner was made June 20 by a man who said the abuse happened more than 30 years ago when the victim was about 13. The alleged abuse happened while Fr. Warner was a pastor at St. Edward Parish on the North Side of Youngstown, where he served from 1976 to 1982.

Here is the letter Bishop Murry sent to the parishioners of Saint Edward Parish. This letter was read by Msgr Siffrin at the week-end Liturgies 8-9 October 2011. Letter from Bishop Murry 9 Oct 2011

At the news conference Bishop Murry also said, “The diocese is committed to being open and honest about these type of accusations. I encourage anyone who has been a victim to report such abuse so they can have peace and I can apologize. This is not what the priesthood is about.”

Women On A Mission Brochure 2011

Church Provides:

• Barbequed Chicken & Fresh Picked Corn
• Beverages
• All Paper Products & Eating Utensils
• Tables & Chairs
• Bocce & Horseshoes

Food Prepared on the Church Grounds by Eddie’s Smokin’ Pit

Parishioners’ Provide:

• ‘A’ thru ‘L’. . . . . . Vegetable Dish
• ‘M’ thru ‘Z’. . . . . . . Dessert

Please, Feel Free to Bring Your Lawn Games

And Under the “BIG TOP” Play BINGO

Guaranteed
Fun, Food, & Friends!
All We Need is You!

Thank you to these wonderful young people for their performance and to their parents and members of the congregation who attended the Stations.

We will continue to reflect on the implications of our baptismal faith from the Lenten Sunday Gospels of  the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus.

March 22^nd The Woman At the Well                      Geri Jacquet

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman turns out to be a love story after all, for only one who loves you knows you as you are and not as you pretend to be. Only one who loves you knows your deepest desires. Only one who loves you can look at your past without blinking.  How has your understanding of Jesus grown?  How has Christ satisfied your thirst?

March 29^th The Man Born Blind                               Rev Nick Shori

Why is the man born blind? All easy answers seem reasonable next to the strange and confounding answer of Jesus: that God’s work might be revealed in him. How has faith opened your eyes?

April 5^th The Raising of Lazarus                                Melinda Smith M.D.

Lazarus lives! That transformation is nothing less than the power of the Spirit of God calling each and every one of us to health — to wholeness — to realizing our full potential as children of God and to the life abundant which is our inheritance. It is a change that isn’t about making us someone we’re not but making us more authentically who we are. In what way have you already experienced the power and presence of  resurrection in your life?

April 12^th Journey to Jerusalem                                 Jim Merhaut

Jesus is completing His journey to Jerusalem; the place He knows that He must go for His passion . In the most personal way, Jerusalem is a symbol of the inner core of our lives—the center of our souls.  What must I let go of, die to or embrace in my journey to Jerusalem? What does it cost me to say “Yes” to the Paschal Mystery in my life?

April19^th :  Communal Celebration of  the Sacrament of Reconciliation

March 13-15 , 2011 at 7:00 pm

with  Father Thomas  Dragga,

Rector of Borremeo Seminary Cleveland

Father Dragga will help us reflect on the implications of our baptismal faith from the Lenten Sunday Readings of the Samaritan Woman, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus.

Our  Sunday and Monday evenings  will consist of  Evening Prayer, Reflection, Conversation and a time for refreshments.

Our Tuesday evening will include  Mass at 5:30 pm, simple supper at  6:00 pm  and the  conclusion of the Mission  at 7:00 pm. For more information call 330.743.2308

It should be a beautiful program because all of the songs will have the theme of PEACE.

Please save the date and plan to come to “cheer on” “our” kids, who are anxious about singing in that BIG PLACE.

Thanks to so many of you who have supported Saint Edward parish family with your sacrificial gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure. Thanks be to God.

Our parish Financial Report for both the fiscal year 1 July 2009_30 June 2010 and the first six months of the fiscal year 1 July 2010_30 June 2011. Financial Report 1 July 2009_30 June 2010