Carnival, its origin and our conduct as Christians

Carnival is a popular festival that arose in antiquity in order to celebrate the pagan gods and nature. The oldest news of what we now call “Carnival” dates back to the 6th century BC.

Several authors explain the name Carnival from the Latin “carne vale”, that is, “goodbye meat” or “farewell of the meat”, which means that in Carnival the consumption of meat was considered lawful for the last time before the days of Lentfasting. Other scholars resort to the expression “carnem levare”, suspend or remove the meat.

Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) would have given the last Sunday before Lent (Sunday of the Fifty) the title of “Dominica ad carnes levandas”, which would have generated “carneval” or carnival.

The Church did not institute carnival, but recognizing it as an existing phenomenon, sought to bribe it to the Gospel. For this reason, she placed it as the last feast before Lent in her calendar so that, before the time of penance in which memory is being remembered for christ who in the desert deprived himself of the needs of the body, Christians would have a period of enjoyment and celebration for the gifts of joy and the lawful pleasures given by God.

Joy is a gift of God and as Christians we must cultivate it, but what has long been observed in the “joys of carnival” are the excesses committed and the permissiveness practiced by the revelers.

It is very pleasing for the Lord to see his children enjoying happiness, but carnival is almost always the misdevelopment of values and morals, and a period that many offenses are committed to God.

The vigilance and prayer of a Christian who fears the Lord should lead him to turn away from feasts that incite promiscuity, adultery, drinking, and all kinds of dissolution of morals.

Let us be virtuous Christians expressing our joy to include Jesus in our feast.

We have the mission to be a channel of grace to our brothers and sisters, and not to channel or cause offenses committed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

St. Paul exhorts us, “All is allowed to me, but not everything is appropriate. Everything is allowed to me, but I will not allow myself to be dominated by anything.” (1 Cor 6.12).

“How will my carnival be celebrated?”

God bless us and be present at our party.

“All for Jesus, nothing without Mary!”