Friday, March 23, 2007
Friday: Abstain from Meat

O King of Glory, have mercy on us sinners!
Today is Friday, the day we commemorate Our Lord's passion and death. It was our own sins that condemned Our Glorious Lord to death - death on a Cross. As Catholics, we are bound to abstain from meat today. Willingly ignoring the law of fasting and abstinence is seriously sinful! It was on this day of the week that Our Glorious Redeemer died for us. Please, never forget this, especially at 3 o'clock, the hour that He died. At 3 o'clock attempt to pray the 3 o'clock Mercy Prayer. Please remember Our Lord's love and repent today.

For the rules on fasting and abstinence, please see my post on the topic.

Today is a great day to pray the Stations of the Cross. Please join me in praying the Stations of the Cross. Remember, it was on this day that He gave up His life all for you.

Prayer to the Glorious Cross:

I adore You, O glorious Cross, which was adorned with the Heart and Body of my Savior Jesus Christ, stained and covered with blood. I adore You, O Holy Cross, out of love for Him, Jesus, who is my Savior and my God.

(Pope Pius IX declared that reciting this prayer five times on Friday will free five souls from Purgatory and 33 souls by reciting it on Good Friday. This prayer should be recited before a crucifix with a contrite heart and praying a few minutes for the Pope).

Prayer to Jesus Christ Crucified:

My good and dear Jesus, I kneel before you asking you most earnestly to engrave upon my heart a deep and lively faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins, and a firm resolve to make amends. As I reflect upon your five wounds, and dwell upon them with deep compassion and grief, I recall the words the prophet David spoke long ago concerning yourself: they have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones!

4 comment(s):

del_button March 29, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Anonymous said...

Would it be wrong for a Catholic to become a vegetarian?

del_button March 29, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Matthew said...

Not it would not be wrong. While not a vegetarian, I'm sure that St. Francis of Assisi would be today because of the horrifying treatment of many animals in the food industry. On Fridays, since abstaining from meat is already a regular for you, eat something simpler. Don't eat shrimp or crab. Instead, just eat a piece of fish or just a salad. If possible, fast the entire day.

But, no, there is nothing wrong with a Catholic being a vegetarian.

del_button April 6, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Anonymous said...

But why no meat? Is it just an arbitrary sacrafice, something rooted in Jewish dietary codes, an aversion to blood?

How does this jive with bad Cain being the reaper and good Abel being the hunter?

Does it have anything with early Christians and their use of the fish as a sort of logo? And why the fish anyways? Is it the fisher of men thing or the bread and loaf thing?

del_button April 9, 2007 at 11:32 AM
Matthew said...

Meat was a luxury in ancient times and fish was the common food. Thus, it is humbling to forsake meat.

I suggest this website:

http://fisheaters.com/fasting.html

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