February 27, 2009

GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR & BOOK FAIR!






The Louisiana State Archives is having its

Annual Genealogical Seminar & Book Fair

Sat March 7th 8 AM to 5 PM

Archives 3851 EssenLane, Baton Rouge.

2008 was canceled last fall so this is the first one in a year and a half.

Seminar is free. There is a charge if you would like a box lunch.

Last time the vendors & other exibitors included:

USL (oops ULL-Laf) so check their online catalogue for books ofinterest. We were able to purchase the early US period maps of Bayou Teche &Vermilion River.

Archives association's inPrint books.

Other local associations, libraries & Museums.

Again, I will ask the SAR/DAR if anything has changed about the members of "Verret Company" eligibility.

Anyone who wants more info contact me off list & I will send you theattachment with more info.
Contact me also with your book wish list & I will see what I can do.

Paul Le B l'Ascension Louisiane

February 25, 2009

CAJUN ASH WEDNESDAY


Ash Wednesday is the first day of the 40-day Lenten Fast. Lent is a word that comes to us in English from the Anglo-Saxon word for Spring. In Cajun French, we use the word, careme. Careme comes to us from the Latin word quadragesima. The Latin and French words for this season of the Church both mean “the 40th day”

The Lenten (or 40-day) Fast is period of fasting and penance preceding the Easter Festival; it occurs 40 days before Good Friday.
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics begin this period by attending Mass, where they will receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross.

This ceremony serves several purposes, among which are 1) to remind all of us that we belong to Jesus Christ, who died on a cross for our salvation; 2) that ashes are a biblical symbol of repentance and mourning; 3) and that, by this visible display of our faith, we are a visible sign to the world of the Body of Christ, His Holy Catholic Church.

February 24, 2009

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!


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.

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.