"We pray for all the kids who don't have candy during this time of ashes."
His phrasing suggested that he had mistaken asceticism with involuntary deprivation--an understandable error for a four year old, but at least he was praying.
Peter's confusion aside, I've been sorting through a Lenten quandary of my own. It must be about ten years ago when it was first suggested to me that on Sundays we get to enjoy whatever it is we gave up for Lent. At the time it seemed like a radical and exciting proposition: Candy during Lent. Amazing.
And over the last decade, the chorus of voices heralding fasting-free Sundays has only grown. It seems to have become the norm, such that if you even think about continuing your fast through the weekend you get a friendly reminder that "HEY IT'S SUNDAY WHICH IS A MINI-EASTER SO MAKE SURE YOU EAT THAT BROWNIE!!!"
I did a year or two of breaking my fast on Sundays and found it to be--how do you say--weak sauce.
It's simply not very hard to give something up if you still indulge in it on a weekly basis. Let's say, for example, that you're giving up ice cream for Lent. Are you really having ice cream more than once a week on a regular basis in Ordinary Time anyway? Not unless your goal is a diabetes diagnosis.
And so, I've placed myself pretty resolutely in the "Man-up-and-fast-on-Sundays" camp. When I debate this point, however, I'm usually told that Sundays are not part of Lent anyway, a contention proven by the fact that the number of days in Lent only equals 40 if you toss out the Lord's day. But if that were true, we wouldn't celebrate the "first Sunday of Lent."
The mini-Easter theory also falls apart with a simple look at the liturgy. In Lent, we don't sing the Gloria or the Alleluia and we don't place flowers in the sanctuary. These practices reflect the penitential nature of Lent--even on a Sunday.
We can look to Jimmy Akin's review of canon law for a more authoritative analysis of whether to fast on Sundays:
The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent [Canon 1250].In other words, we do penance in Lent, and Lent includes Sundays.
The limits of the season of Lent are defined as follows:
"Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive [General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar 28].
/Drops the mic.
Ultimately, however, the Church doesn't really require us to give anything up for Lent outside of Fridays and Ash Wednesday. We're encouraged to do so, but it's a pious practice that is left up to us and we are fully within our rights to quit fasting on Sundays. Or Tuesdays. Or Saturdays. But whatever we give up, it's with the desire of making space for the Lord.
What do you think?
11 comments:
When solemnities fall of Fridays or during Lent, such as the Feast of St. Joseph on March 19, the faithful are not required to fast or abstain. They are days for feasting, so eat that brownie.
Thanks for the post Steve. I follow the 1962 discipline, and have always just assumed that it was relaxed on Sundays. I was wrong.
"Diebus dominicis vel festis de praecepto lex abstinentiae, vel abstinentiae et ieiunii, vel ieiunii tantum cessat, excepto festo tempore Quadragesimae" (On Sundays and days of precept, the law of abstinence, or the law of fast and abstinence, or the law of only fast ceases, except during the solemn time of Lent)
That changes my plans a bit!
I usually try to be a purist and forgo my favorite treats on Sundays, but this year I've really challenged myself. I'm ready to give up already and chuck all of the fasting I've imposed upon myself. A Sunday break is looking mighty enticing so that I can carry on for the long haul.
'In other words, we do penance in Lent, and Lent includes Sundays.'
Forty days; well, the math checks out.
you can always go Byzantine...
"The Lenten Fast
Great Lent is the longest and strictest fasting season of the year.
Week before Lent ("Cheesefare Week"): Meat and other animal products are prohibited, but eggs and dairy products are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday.
First Week of Lent: Only two full meals are eaten during the first five days, on Wednesday and Friday after the Presanctified Liturgy. Nothing is eaten from Monday morning until Wednesday evening, the longest time without food in the Church year. (Few laymen keep these rules in their fullness). For the Wednesday and Friday meals, as for all weekdays in Lent, meat and animal products, fish, dairy products, wine and oil are avoided. On Saturday of the first week, the usual rule for Lenten Saturdays begins (see below).
Weekdays in the Second through Sixth Weeks: The strict fasting rule is kept every day: avoidance of meat, meat products, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil.
Saturdays and Sundays in the Second through Sixth Weeks: Wine and oil are permitted; otherwise the strict fasting rule is kept.
Holy Week: The Thursday evening meal is ideally the last meal taken until Pascha. At this meal, wine and oil are permitted. The Fast of Great and Holy Friday is the strictest fast day of the year: even those who have not kept a strict Lenten fast are strongly urged not to eat on this day. After St. Basil's Liturgy on Holy Saturday, a little wine and fruit may be taken for sustenance. The fast is sometimes broken on Saturday night after Resurrection Matins, or, at the latest, after the Divine Liturgy on Pascha.
Wine and oil are permitted on several feast days if they fall on a weekday during Lent. Consult your parish calendar. On Annunciation and Palm Sunday, fish is also permitted."
Just found this on the USCCB website:
A. It might be more accurate to say that there is the "forty day fast within Lent." Historically, Lent has varied from a week to three weeks to the present configuration of 46 days. The forty day fast, however, has been more stable. The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence.
Q. So does that mean that when we give something up for Lent, such as candy, we can have it on Sundays?
A. Apart from the prescribed days of fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and the days of abstinence every Friday of Lent, Catholics have traditionally chosen additional penitential practices for the whole Time of Lent. These practices are disciplinary in nature and often more effective if they are continuous, i.e., kept on Sundays as well. That being said, such practices are not regulated by the Church, but by individual conscience.
Nice explanation Anne!
Anon, for some time I had thought about going Byzantine but practically speaking there isn't anywhere around me to join. The Eastern Churches maintained their cultural identity whereas in America, ethnic parishes were seen as something bad and were almost entirely wiped away.
Why does Steve not reply to comments on his own post?
I joined this camp a few years ago. This year, however, I'm pulling the 'cold shower' deal, and in order to not drive myself entirely batty, I'm debating about a little indulgence on Sundays.... at least a lukewarm one. :)
I reply; I do!
Here's where I question the USCCB:
"The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence."
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me because Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and all but one Wednesday are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence. So it's not that I disagree with the USCCB, just that it seems to be a point not worth making.
As far as the Feast Day of St. Joseph and the Annunciation, we are not required to fast those days. But we're not required to feast either.
“Because of its special importance, the Sunday celebration gives way only to solemnities or feasts of the Lord.”
–General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, Chapter 1, Title I, Section II, Item 5
This, it would seem to me, settles the question. The Sunday feast supersedes the Lenten fast, and can only be itself superseded by even greater feasts. Therefore, Sundays in Lent are within the season of Lent, but they are *also* feast days, *not* days of fasting and penitence. Fasting on a feast is not strictly forbidden (except during the Easter Octave), but, liturgically, that is exactly what one is doing on a 46-day fast.
Prudentially, such practices tempt me toward both scruples and spiritual pride, and I know this about myself from past experience, so I always keep the feasts of the Church.
(RELATED: I once had a Dominican monk/priest/professor at the Angelicum in Rome, who taught me Modern Philosophy, who loved to say, "Catholics! When we feast -- we feast! When we fast -- we cheat!")
I think I'm with you on this one. I COULD have that piece of cake on Sundays during Lent but it feels like I'd be breaking my self-imposed mortification in a way that I just don't want to.
So I'll maintain my abstinence from all things sweet all throughout Lent until Easter. I will, however, celebrate Sundays by eating as much as I want, as this year I chose to adopt the traditional Fast/Abstinence rules, i.e., only 1 main meal per day and 2 very small snack-sized meals, every day in Lent other than Sundays.
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