text: Early Christians. The roots of Mardi Gras, Easter, and Christmas celebrations can be traced back to ancient Roman celebrations. As the Christian religion was forming, it was easier to bring converts from other religions if the major celebrations were kept intact, but given new Christian meanings. It is clear from the Bible that the Nativity didn't happen in winter (lambs aren't born then nor do shepherds tend them in the fields). The Roman feast of Saturnalia which included decorating with evergreen boughs and giving presents in an effort to entice the sun to return for another year was transformed into a celebration of the birth of Christ. The Roman feast of Oestre in the springtime, a celebration of fertility that included rabbits and eggs, was transformed by the Christians into Easter. \n\nLent is a 40 day period of abstinence prior to Easter. As one last blow-out, a celebration was held prior to the beginning of Lent. As the Lenten festival devloped over the centuries, it spread from 12th Night (supposedly the night the Wise Men arrived at Nazareth, actually the 12th night after Christmas) and lasted until Fat Tuesday, the day before the 40 days of Lent began.\n\n"Mardi Gras" is French for Fat Tuesday. The festival has had other names in other languages. It cemented in our culture due to a 1699 French explorer who landed at a point in Louisiana on Fat Tuesday and named the place Point du Mardi Gras in honor of the celebration taking place in his native country.