Lent fasting rules?

[SaintGeorge]

During lent, Orthodox Christians abstain from meat, dairy, and oil products. What does the average pious Roman Catholic do?

 

[Alexis OCA]

Under current canon law in the Western Rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to sixty years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country, one may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks, so long as these snacks do not add up to a second meal. Children are not required to fast, but their parents must ensure they are properly educated in the spiritual practice of fasting. Those with medical conditions requiring a greater or more regular food intake can easily be dispensed from the requirement of fasting by their pastor.

A day of abstinence is a day on which Catholics fourteen years or older are required to abstain from eating meat (under the current discipline in America, fish, eggs, milk products, and condiments or foods made using animal fat are permitted in the Western Rite of the Church, though not in the Eastern Rites.) Again, persons with special dietary needs can easily be dispensed by their pastor.

 

[karla]

Under current canon law in the Western Rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to sixty years old are required to keep a limited fast.

I thought it was18, but I could swear that our priest said 21 this past weekend maybe he just misspoke. Hearing 21 struck me as odd.

 

[ThereseOfLisieux]

During lent, Orthodox Christians abstain from meat, dairy, and oil products. What does the average pious Roman Catholic do?

Well, there is a good definition of Fast and Abstinance already, so I will start from that point.

The current rules for lent are. Fast and Abstinance on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent. Also we make some sacrifice (give something up) for all of lent. These rules are minimal, and many do much more than that. Lent in the West is 40 days Ash Wed. to Holy Thursday evening, excluding Sunday, because Sunday is always a celebration of the Resurection.

That said, very common things in Lenten fasting are: 1) Fast all days of Lent (not Sunday) obstain also on Ash Wed. Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent. Also, when I was growing up the minimal age was 14, IMHO I will have my children start to fast at 14, and they already obstain, they are 10 and 7.

 

[Paul S]

The fast used to go from Ash Wednesday to noon on Holy Saturday. The Triduum is no longer liturgically Lent, although if you want 40 days (excluding Sundays) you have to include it.

The reason the fast ended at noon is because during Lent, Vespers is said at midday, and Vespers for Holy Saturday is actually First Vespers of Easter, and we don't fast during Eastertide.

Currently, all the Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence only. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence.

If anyone wishes to celebrate the Ember Days, they're next week, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the First Week of Lent.

 

[Caedmon]

Currently, all the Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence only. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence.

What's the difference between and "fast" and "abstinence"?

If anyone wishes to celebrate the Ember Days, they're next week, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the First Week of Lent.

What are the "Ember Days"?

 

[Paul S]

What's the difference between and "fast" and "abstinence"?

Abstinence means no meat. Fasting means one meal a day, plus two smaller meals that together do not equal the main meal, and no eating between meals.

On a day of fast only, meat may be eaten. Since there are currently only two days of fasting, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstinence is required on both, the distinction becomes less clear.

What are the "Ember Days"?

The Ember Days are penitential days which occur four times a year, and they date back to at least 500, but likely apostolic times.

Like many Christian holidays, they developed from pagan rituals which, in this case, honoured the gods of nature. The Romans would pray to these gods in June, September, and December to ask for help with planting and the harvest, since a good crop was vital to one's survival. As the Church so often does, she adopted this practice but sanctified it by making these celebrations times of penance and, of course, directed the prayers to the one true God. A fourth set of Ember days was added later, around March.

The three Ember Days are Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, which are also the traditional days of fasting in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches - Wednesday, because Judas betrayed Jesus on that day; Friday, because the crucifixion was on Friday; and Saturday, for the Sabbath.

The Ember Days remain at approximately the beginnings of the seasons of the year, but are tied to the liturgical year - they occur in the First Week of Lent, the Octave of Pentecost, the Third Week in September, and the Third Week of Advent. In the 1917 Code of Canon Law, all three days are days of fast. Friday, like all Fridays, is a day of full abstinence - no meat. Wednesday and Saturday are days of partial abstinence - meat at the main meal only.

Ordinations are performed on the Ember Saturdays, with the main ordination Mass occurring on Ember Saturday in Pentecost, the day before Trinity Sunday. The Mass also contains additional Scripture lessons.

The Ember Days were dropped from the calendar in 1970, but remain on the 1962 calendar. Even though the fast and abstinence is no longer required, extra penance is never a bad thing. Although we don't pray as much these days for the food supply and the seasons, we can still use them as a way of thanking God for the past season and asking His blessing for the coming season.

 

[Caedmon]

Thanks for the info... I didn't know that you couldn't eat meat on Ash Wednesday. If I hadn't read your post, I would have been eating a turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow.