Good parties are intrinsic to our Catholic faith. The
liturgical year is punctuated with a wide array of feast days and
celebrations, many of which are Christianized versions of holidays
that once closely tracked the agricultural calendar of planting and
harvesting. The two largest and best-known feasts are, of course,
Christmas and Easter, but there are also the two Christmas and
Easter spin-offs, Epiphany and Pentecost. In addition, theres the
feast of Mary, Mother of God (New Years Day); Ascension Thursday;
Corpus Christi; the feast of the Immaculate Conception; All Saints
Day (with Halloween and the Day of the Dead); and, the most famous
party of all, Mardi Gras, which has strayed far from its Catholic
origin as the last celebration before the Lenten fast but still
embodies a certain Catholic sensibility. Above all, every Sunday
for Catholics is a feast day on which we celebrate Christs
resurrection. Only in Lent and the mini-Lent of Advent is it not
party time, but even in these two seasons, there are exceptions for
St. Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, St. Nicholas Day, and other
feasts.
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