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The Church has hallowed the practice of fasting, encourages it, and mandates it at certain times. Why? The Angelic Doctor writes that fasting is practiced for a threefold purpose: “First, in order to bridle the lusts of the flesh… Secondly, we have recourse to fasting in order that the mind may arise more freely to the contemplation of heavenly things…Thirdly, in order to satisfy for sins...’”
St. Basil the Great also affirmed the importance of fasting for protection against demonic forces: “The fast is the weapon of protection against demons. Our Guardian Angels more readily stay with those who have cleansed our souls through fasting.”
The Baltimore Catechism echoes these sentiments: “The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins” (BC#2 Q. 395). Concerning this rationale, Fr. Thomas Kinkead in An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine published in 1891 writes, “Remember it is our bodies that generally lead us into sin; if therefore we punish the body by fasting and mortification, we atone for the sin, and thus God wipes out a part of the temporal punishment due to it.”
Pope St. Leo the Great in 461 wisely counseled that fasting is a means and not an end in itself. For those who could not observe the strictness of fasting, he sensibly said, “What we forego by fasting is to be given as alms to the poor.” To forgo fasting, even if for legitimate health reasons, does not excuse a person from the universal command to do penance (cf. Luke 13, 3). It must be stated that we do not gain merits in the performance of penance, no matter how severe, if we are in the state of mortal sin. Staying in the state of grace is essential for meriting.
Learning What We Have Lost is the First Step in Recovering Our Heritage
Continued below.
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St. Basil the Great also affirmed the importance of fasting for protection against demonic forces: “The fast is the weapon of protection against demons. Our Guardian Angels more readily stay with those who have cleansed our souls through fasting.”
The Baltimore Catechism echoes these sentiments: “The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins” (BC#2 Q. 395). Concerning this rationale, Fr. Thomas Kinkead in An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine published in 1891 writes, “Remember it is our bodies that generally lead us into sin; if therefore we punish the body by fasting and mortification, we atone for the sin, and thus God wipes out a part of the temporal punishment due to it.”
Pope St. Leo the Great in 461 wisely counseled that fasting is a means and not an end in itself. For those who could not observe the strictness of fasting, he sensibly said, “What we forego by fasting is to be given as alms to the poor.” To forgo fasting, even if for legitimate health reasons, does not excuse a person from the universal command to do penance (cf. Luke 13, 3). It must be stated that we do not gain merits in the performance of penance, no matter how severe, if we are in the state of mortal sin. Staying in the state of grace is essential for meriting.
Learning What We Have Lost is the First Step in Recovering Our Heritage
Continued below.
In the Approach to Lent: Fasting Matters
Sacred liturgy and liturgical arts. Liturgical history and theology. The movements for the Usus Antiquior and Reform of the Reform.
