As far back as I can remember, our family has observed a Lenten fasting custom that, until recently, I thought everyone did. Obviously Lenten fasting regulations have been loosened a bit since, ahem, Vatican II, but... howcanIsaythis... I'm not a fan of the Council that brought us polka Masses, rainbow vestments and tabernacles removed from the main Church, so I never thought it peculiar when others didn't do I as did during Lent.
I almost wrote "normal Lenten fasting observances" but realized that people's beliefs on Lenten fasting are so varied, "normal" is in the mind of the beholder (for example: do you simply have to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and it's a free-for-all other than that? if you give something up, is Sunday your "day off"? what if you
Is it just me -- or does anyone else try to eat meat just once a day during Lent (along with going meatless on Fridays and other feast days?) I grew up eating meat once a day during Lent -- lots of pb&j and cheese sandwiches for lunch, yum -- so now I have this Catholic guilt complex if I forget or find myself in a situation where I have business/social engagements for both lunch and dinner. I actually like shellfish, so it's not as much of a big deal for me as for those who swear by their cheeseburgers.
But it did get me thinking about Lenten fasting "rules"... and Matt said, hey, if you want to bare your Catholic guilt to the world, go for it... I thought it would be fun to do a history of how Lent is and has been observed, to provide a little perspective.
The word Lent itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words lencten, meaning "Spring," andlenctentid, which literally means not only "Springtide" but also was the word for "March," the month in which the majority of Lent falls.
By the end of the fourth century, the 40-day period of Easter preparation known as Lent existed, consisting of prayer and fasting. The rules of fasting varied. Some areas of the Church abstained from all forms of meat and animal products, while others made exceptions for food like fish. For example, Pope St. Gregory (d. 604), writing to St. Augustine of Canterbury, issued the following rule: "We abstain from flesh, meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese and eggs." Second, the general rule was for a person to have one meal a day, in the evening or at 3 p.m.
These Lenten fasting rules also evolved. Eventually, a smaller meal was allowed during the day to keep up one's strength from manual labor. Eating fish was allowed, and later eating meat was also allowed through the week except on Ash Wednesday and Friday. Dispensations were given for eating dairy products if a pious work was performed, and eventually this rule was relaxed totally. (However, the abstinence from even dairy products led to the practice of blessing Easter eggs and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.)
In 1966, the USCCB released new fasting guidelines for Lent and beyond. These new guidelines made it no longer required to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year, and the general fasting requirement is no longer required.
For me, growing up, Lent = no eating between meals; meat once a day (usually dinner); no meat on Fridays during Lent; and we usually gave up something as family, like dessert or watching movies. Sounds fun, eh? But Lent isn't supposed to be fun (neither was Christ's death on the cross): through Lent, we purify our earthly body and mind to receive the Risen Christ on Easter Sunday.
I had the most difficult time trying to find what, exactly, are the Church's guidelines on Lenten fasting. I finally found this Pastoral Statement from 1983, which can be summarized to read: "We strongly recommend some sort of penitential observance during the 40 days of Lent; no meat on Ash Wednesday nor Fridays during Lent."
Bishop Ricken did provide some tips for Lent from a bishop's perspective. Fr. Z has them here.
Also, read "The Idiot's Guide to Lent and Fasting." It gets much closer to where I was aiming for.
I am curious, though, among our (500 daily!!) readers -- what Lenten traditions do you follow? What have you heard?
Image source.
In 1966, the USCCB released new fasting guidelines for Lent and beyond. These new guidelines made it no longer required to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year, and the general fasting requirement is no longer required.
For me, growing up, Lent = no eating between meals; meat once a day (usually dinner); no meat on Fridays during Lent; and we usually gave up something as family, like dessert or watching movies. Sounds fun, eh? But Lent isn't supposed to be fun (neither was Christ's death on the cross): through Lent, we purify our earthly body and mind to receive the Risen Christ on Easter Sunday.
I had the most difficult time trying to find what, exactly, are the Church's guidelines on Lenten fasting. I finally found this Pastoral Statement from 1983, which can be summarized to read: "We strongly recommend some sort of penitential observance during the 40 days of Lent; no meat on Ash Wednesday nor Fridays during Lent."
Bishop Ricken did provide some tips for Lent from a bishop's perspective. Fr. Z has them here.
Also, read "The Idiot's Guide to Lent and Fasting." It gets much closer to where I was aiming for.
I am curious, though, among our (500 daily!!) readers -- what Lenten traditions do you follow? What have you heard?
Image source.
4 comments:
Oddly enough, even my fallen away Catholic family still does not eat meat on Fridays during Lent(but still wont go to Mass...). Maybe it will do some good! I've never heard of the one meat a day thing but it sounds like a good idea, but somewhere, you just made a butcher cry, LOL.
On that note, did you see Gov. Walker's tweet about giving up sweets for Lent (he is not Catholic, either): https://twitter.com/#!/GovWalker/status/172749612455702528
CapTimes headline tomorrow: Walker seeks to shut down candy industry in Wisconsin
I'm back on food restrictions that I was previously on (then didn't need to be, then went on vacation and now need to be again lol)(it's called "candida" no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, or pretty much anything else in our everyday diets...besides some vegetables and most meat (except pork) and quinoa...lots of quinoa. *unenthusiatic 'yay'*). Anyways, I decided to go through this as a prayer this lent, along with giving up my time over-spent playing tetris [that game is dangerously addicting].
We've done "breaks" on Sundays, but maybe this lent I'll give up the 'little Easter' breaks. Afterall, when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days (or any other '40 days/years' example...such as Gandolf, Frodo and their crew took 40 days to cross the mountain- uhh, I mean- Israelites wandered in the desert...orrr some other biblical reference.) He didn't take any breaks. But then again...He's God...He is awesome like that and can do that. But even though I'm 'just' human- I think I can make the sacrifice of no tetris for the COMPLETE 40 days, when He gave up His life for me...I can at LEAST give up my colorful little game. [I can't cheat on food restrictions regardless].
Another lent 'tradition' (or at least something my mom did with us when we were younger) was instead of giving up something all of lent, on Ash Wednesday we sat down with little strips of paper and wrote out all sorts of things we could 'give up' or do extra (i.e. no pop, no dessert, no compputer games, do extra chores etc.) and then put them in a bowl. Then in another bowl we had a strips all with different people/intentions to pray for thorugh the fasting. Then each day we picked one of each.
Anyways, it was a good way to 'do' fasting with younger children (although other years we still gave something up for all of lent).
Okay, I'm done filling up your comments spot.
Love your blog!
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