This last day before the start of Lent has many names: Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. But the concept remains the same. Today is the feast before the famine, the celebration before the wilderness.

Around here, though, we take a slightly different approach to the day. Today at Lent Madness we celebrate Mardi Madness! This is a day of Lent Madness evangelism; a day to share the joys of this unique Lenten discipline with the uninitiated; a time to spread the good news of Lent Madness.

The word "Shrove" in Shrove Tuesday comes from Latin scribere, to write. Eventually it became associated with confessing one's sins the day before Lent. To shrive is to administer the sacrament of reconciliation or confession. But we at Lent Madness HQ are old school, so we like the original more literal meaning of shrive, to write. Therefore, we especially encourage you to write about Lent Madness on your friends' Facebook walls, Twitter feeds, or driveways.

How can you participate in Mardi Madness? Oh, let us count the ways.

1. Share links to the 2016 bracket on social media or via e-mail.
2. Encourage people to binge watch episodes of Monday Madness.
3. Wear your purple Lent Madness t-shirt to the grocery store.
4. Add a Lent Madness widget to your website or blog.
5. Drink coffee out of your favorite Lent Madness mug.
6. Walk up and down the street dressed as your favorite saint.
7. Hand out copies of the Saintly Scorecard or download the e-reader version and give out iPads.
8. Turn two large bracket posters into a sandwich board and walk around your neighborhood.
9. Follow Lent Madness on Twitter and then retweet all our posts.
10. Like us on Facebook and encourage all your friends to go and do likewise.
11. Send fan mail to your favorite Celebrity Blogger.

Most importantly, share the joy of learning about saints and drawing nearer to Jesus this Lent with all of your family, friends, and acquaintances. You'll be doing them a huge favor. And it sure beats eating purple pancakes.