In the medieval world, the Christmas season lasted for the forty days after Christmas. It is for this reason that most churches in Europe, including St. Peter’s in Rome, keep their nativity sets up until this time. This period between the Feast of the Epiphany and the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday also marked a time referred to as Carnival. This was a rather celebratory season that allowed for all sorts of social inversions and pranks that perhaps let loose some social pressures or at least removed the dullness of life during the last length of winter. The word Carnival comes from two Latin words, carne, which means meat, and vale which was Latin for goodbye. So, carnival means goodbye to meat, a recognition of the fact that in an earlier time the Lenten fast included an absence of meat for the entire 40-day period. The day after Candlemas (yesterday) sent the festivities into high gear. The Jesuits, those stalwart defenders of the Holy Faith, saw in the decadent reversals of the moral order which occurred during carnival, a full assault on the faith. The Society was built on that faith. The Jesuits went out from their colleges en masse with crucifixes in hand. Standing on a box that formerly housed local vegetables, they inveighed against the decadence of the season. The application of such dramatic gesture on today’s street corners perhaps would not have the same effect, but the witness of these men can certainly challenge us today. Whether it was Carnival, Christmas, or Lent, those Jesuits in the piazzas of Rome fulminating against moral evils of the time remind us that we could at least practice our faith in such a way that it bears witness by our deeds.