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Day FORTY-FIVE of Presidential recovery.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season. This day is observed with fasting, and the application of ashes on the forehead as a sign of repentance and mortality. Lent is the time before Easter when Christians prepare to commemorate Jesus’s Resurrection through prayer, penance, and fasting.

 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 3:19

Day FORTY-FOUR of Presidential recovery

Today is Shrove Tuesday, the day immediately preceding Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in Western Christian churches.

Shrove, derived from shrive, refers to the confession of sins as a preparation for Lent. Although the day is still used for self-examination and introspection, Shrove Tuesday eventually acquired the character of a carnival or festival in many places and is often celebrated with parades.

Also known as Mardi Gras which is French for “Fat Tuesday”, it is the last day of consuming rich, fatty foods in preparation for the Christian fasting season of Lent, during which such foods are avoided.

Some traditions, such as the one in New Orleans, Louisiana, consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period from Twelfth Night to Ash Wednesday. Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.