A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 57

In today’s episode, on Passion Sunday, I address the following: 

1. Customs for Passion Sunday
2. Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in Lent
3. Customs for St. Patrick’s Day

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and more. It is never too late to study the fullness of the Catholic Faith, and CatechismClass.com is the gold standard in authentic Catholic formation online. Check out their special Lenten Study Course now available for 25% off with discount code LENT25.

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Is St. Patrick's Day Traditionally Still A Fasting Day?

Definition of Fasting vs. Abstinence

Fasting refers to how much food we eat and, historically, when we eat it. It means taking only one meal during a calendar day. The meal should be an average-sized meal as overeating at the one meal is against the spirit of the fast. Fasting generally means that the meal is to be taken later in the day. Along with the one meal, up to two snacks (technically called either a collation or frustulum) are permitted. These are optional, not required. Added up together, they may not equal the size of the one meal. No other snacking throughout the day is permitted. 

Abstinence in this context refers to not eating meat. Meat refers to the fleshmeat of mammals or fowl. Beef, poultry, lamb, etc are all forbidden on days of abstinence. Abstinence does not currently prohibit animal byproducts like dairy (e.g. cheese, butter, milk) or eggs, but in times past they were prohibited. Fish is currently permitted along with shellfish and other cold-blooded animals like alligators. In times past, days of fast were always days of abstinence as well; however, not all days of abstinence were days of mandatory fasting.

The Church's Law in 1917

The days of obligatory fasting as listed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law were the forty days of Lent (including Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday until noon); the Ember Days; and the Vigils of Pentecost, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, and Christmas. Partial abstinence, the eating of meat only at the principal meal, was obligatory on all weeks of Lent (Monday through Thursday). And of course, complete abstinence was required on all Fridays, including Fridays of Lent, except when a holy day of obligation fell on a Friday outside of Lent. Saturdays in Lent were likewise days of complete abstinence.

The Church's Law in 1962

By 1962, the laws of fasting and abstinence were as follows as described in "Moral Theology" by Rev. Heribert Jone and adapted by Rev. Urban Adelman for the "laws and customs of the United States of America" copyright 1961: "Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Partial abstinence is to be observed on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays and on the Vigil of Pentecost. Days of fast are all the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, and the Vigil of Pentecost." If a vigil falls on a Sunday, the law of abstinence and fasting is dispensed that year and is not transferred to the preceding day. Father Jone adds additional guidance for the Vigil of the Nativity fast: "General custom allows one who is fasting to take a double portion of food at the collation on Christmas Eve (jejunium gaudiosum)."

History of St. Patrick's Day in Lent

    

For the Irish (and for Irish Americans), St. Patrick's Day is both a cultural milestone and, traditionally, a very significant spiritual day. Even traditional Catholics are not sure, due to conflicting information, if St. Patrick's Day was a day of fasting and abstinence during Lent on non-Fridays. Can I Eat Meat on St. Patrick's Day on a Friday in Lent is a different topic as Friday abstinence is universally mandatory and binding under pain of mortal sin.

The first record of dispensation from Lenten fast and/or abstinence on St. Patrick's Day was early in America's history at a time when all of Lent, aside from Sundays, were days of mandatory fasting for those between the ages of 21 and 60 (health exceptions aside). With the growing number of Irish immigrants to America in the early 1800s, special attention was given to dispense from fasting when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday. This was done for the members of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1837 and would become customary in the United States. The dispensation in 1837 "was granted on the proviso that all diners gave a small sum to charity." But this was in Boston, which was an epi-center of Irish Americans.

Back in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was a Holy Day of Obligation and still, without special dispensation, a day of mandatory fasting and abstinence. Interestingly, "The Catholic's Pocket Prayer-Book," published by Henri Proost & Co. in 1924, notes that for Australia and New Zealand, all days in Lent were days of fasting "except Sundays and St. Patrick's Day." The same pocket guide lists the days of fasting and abstinence for Ireland and lists no such exception. Yet even for Australia and New Zealand, no exception for abstinence existed on St. Patrick's Day in 1924.

Conclusion

Hence, except for Australian and New Zealand Catholics, Catholics in other countries were to still fast and abstain on St. Patrick's Day. It was only not a fasting day when it fell on a Sunday in Lent, since there is no fasting on Sundays. However, it is still possible to celebrate with Irish Soda Bread and other vegan foods.

For a separate discussion of Can I Eat Meat on St. Patrick's Day on a Friday in Lent, see that article.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 56

In today’s episode, on Laetare Sunday, I address the following: 

1. The Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
2. Laetare Sunday as Mothering Sunday
3. 10+ Great Ideas for Lenten Almsgiving

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers in Latin conveniently on the go. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com offers prayer cards in various formats, including Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Shop for additional Latin resources like missal booklets, server response cards, and more. Visit PrayLatin.com today.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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Laetare Sunday as Mothering Sunday

This upcoming Sunday is Laetare Sunday, the day of respite in the midst of the asceticism of Lent. Laetare Sunday is a day for us to celebrate in anticipation for the upcoming feast of Easter. We have only three weeks of Lent left to make greater progress in the spiritual life.

The following is taken from the St. John Cantius Website:

Laetare Sunday is also known as "Mothering Sunday" because of the Epistle reading that speaks of how not the Jews, but those who come to Christ, regardless of their ancestry, are the inheritors of Abraham's promise:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, and the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman, was born according to the flesh: but he of the free woman, was by promise. Which things are said by an allegory. For these are the two testaments. The one from mount Sina, engendering unto bondage; which is Agar: For Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath affinity to that Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But that Jerusalem, which is above, is free: which is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he, that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was after the spirit; so also it is now. But what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.

Galatians 4:22-31

The old practice of visiting the cathedral, or "mother church" of the diocese on this day is another reason for the name. In England, natural mothers are honored today, too, in a manner rather like the American "Mother's Day." Spring bulb flowers (daffodils, for ex.) are given to mothers, and simnel cake is made to celebrate the occasion (this cake has also become an Easter Cake of late, however). The word "simnel" comes from the Latin "simila," a high grade flour.

The rose vestments on Laetare Sunday is a custom originating in the fact that, as a symbol of joy and hope in the middle of this somber Season. Popes used to carry a golden rose in their right hand when returning from the celebration of Mass on this day. Way back in 1051, Pope Leo IX called this custom an "ancient institution." Originally it was natural rose, then a single golden rose of natural size, but since the fifteenth century it has consisted of a cluster or branch of roses.

The popes bless one every year, and often confer it upon churches, shrines, cities, or distinguished persons as a token of esteem and paternal affection. In case of such a bestowal, a new rose is made during the subsequent year.  The golden rose represents Christ in the shining splendor of His majesty, the "flower sprung from the root of Jesse," and it is blessed with these words:

O God! by Whose word and power all things have been created, by Whose will all things are directed, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty, Who art the joy and gladness of all the faithful, that Thou wouldst deign in Thy fatherly love to bless and sanctify this rose, most delightful in odor and appearance, which we this day carry in sign of spiritual joy, in order that the people consecrated by Thee and delivered from the yoke of Babylonian slavery through the favor of Thine only-begotten Son, Who is the glory and exultation of the people of Israel and of that Jerusalem which is our Heavenly mother, may with sincere hearts show forth their joy. Wherefore, O Lord, on this day, when the Church exults in Thy name and manifests her joy by this sign, confer upon us through her true and perfect joy and accepting her devotion of today; do Thou remit sin, strengthen faith, increase piety, protect her in Thy mercy, drive away all things adverse to her and make her ways safe and prosperous, so that Thy Church, as the fruit of good works, may unite in giving forth the perfume of the ointment of that flower sprung from the root of Jesse and which is the mystical flower of the field and lily of the valleys, and remain happy without end in eternal glory together with all the saints.

For more Catholic customs throughout the liturgical year, see "Restoring Lost Customs of Christendom" published by Our Lady of Victory Press.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 55

In today’s episode, on the Third Sunday of Lent, I address the following: 

1. The Readings for the Third Sunday of Lent
2. The Feast of the Five Holy Wounds
3. The Protestant Attack on Lenten Penance
4. The Errors of Donatists and Why They Matter Today

This episode is sponsored by MyCatholicWill.com. MyCatholicWill.com provides simple and effective tools to pass on the heritage of faith and positively impact future generations of Catholics across the country. Ensure your legacy and family are protected while also leaving behind a way to support the Church. Use discount code catholiclife20 to save on your order.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 54

In today’s episode, on the Second Sunday of Lent, I address the following: 

1. The Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent
2. How the Traditional Latin Mass Reinforces Lent as a Fast
3. Early Christians Fasted Even from Water During Lent

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers in Latin conveniently on the go. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com offers prayer cards in various formats, including Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Shop for additional Latin resources like missal booklets, server response cards, and more. Visit PrayLatin.com today.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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The Protestant Attack on Lenten Penance

In the Middle Ages, abstinence from meat on Fridays and during Lent was not only Church law – it was civil law as well. And people gladly obeyed these laws out of respect for the teaching authority of the Church. Yet after the Protestant revolt which began in 1517 and continued through the middle of the 1600s, this was to change. Zwingli, the protestant leader from Switzerland, directed multiple attacks against the merits of good works, including fasting and abstinence through the infamous “The Affair of Sausage” in 1522. He audaciously claimed that since Scripture was the only authority, sausages should be eaten publicly in Lent in defiance. 

The same occurred in England, which followed the revolt of Luther and his peers. King Henry VIII, who was previously given the title “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Leo X for his defense against Luther, succumbed to heresy and schism when he broke from Lord’s established Church on earth in 1533 to engage in adultery. Church property was seized. Catholics were killed. Catholicism was made illegal in England in 1559 under Queen Elizabeth I, and for 232 years, except during the brief reign of the Catholic King James II (1685 – 1688), the Catholic Mass was illegal until 1791. Yet the Anglicans at least kept the Catholic customs of abstinence for some years.

English Royalty proclamations supporting abstinence of meat continued to occur in England in 1563, 1619, 1625, 1627, and 1631. The same likewise occurred in 1687 under King James II. After the Revolution in 1688 and the overthrow of Catholicism by William III and Mary II, the laws were no longer enforced and officially removed from the law books by the Statue Law Revision Act in 1863. Similar changes occurred throughout Europe as Protestants reviled the fast.

Protestants largely abandoned fasting and other forms of mortification altogether in a complete rupture with the practice of all of Christianity back to the Apostles themselves. While some Lutherans and Methodists will voluntarily keep fasting days, it is uncommon and not practiced under obligation. Methodists, who were founded by John Wesley in the 18th century, for instance, if they do fast, are more likely to observe the “Daniel Fast” during the season of Lent, which is categorized by abstinence from "meat, fish, egg, dairy products, chocolates, ice creams, sugar, sweets, wine or any alcoholic beverages" as taken from the Book of Daniel 10:3. 

By the 1900s, the Episcopalian Church, the American branch of Anglicanism, largely abandoned all fasting and abstinence by re-writing their Book of Common Prayer (BCP):

The 1928 BCP in its table of fasts listed ‘other days of fasting on which the Church requires such a measure of abstinence as is more especially suited to extraordinary acts and exercises of devotion.’ These included the forty days of Lent, the Ember Days, and Fridays. No distinction was made between fasting and abstinence. The 1979 BCP dropped the Ember Days from the list and refers to both Lenten weekdays and Fridays outside of the Christmas and Easter seasons as Days of Special Devotion ‘observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial’ (p. 17). While this permits the traditional observance of Days of Abstinence, it clearly leaves the nature of the special acts of discipline and self-denial to the individual. 

Even amid the Protestant revolt, weakening discipline continued even in Catholic nations. For example, the twice-weekly fast on Wednesday and Friday goes back to the Apostles. In Ireland for instance the use of meat on all Wednesdays of the year was prohibited until around the middle of the 17th century.  This harkened back to the vestige of those earlier times when Wednesdays were days of weekly fasting as Father Slater notes in “A Short History of Moral Theology” published in 1909:

The obligation of fasting on all Wednesdays and Fridays ceased almost entirely about the tenth century, but the fixing of those days by ecclesiastical authority for fasting, and the desire to substitute a Christian observance at Rome for certain pagan rites celebrated in connection with the seasons of the year, seem to have given rise to our Ember Days… About the tenth century the obligation of the Friday fast was reduced to one of abstinence from flesh meat, and the Wednesday fast after being similarly mitigated gradually disappeared altogether. 

Of course, Lent was not an invention of the Middle Ages. Lenten fasting goes back to the very Apostles themselves!  The great liturgist Dom Guéranger writes that the fast which precedes Easter originated with the Apostles themselves:

The forty days’ fast, which we call Lent, is the Church’s preparation for Easter, and was instituted at the very commencement of Christianity. Our Blessed Lord Himself sanctioned it by fasting forty days and forty nights in the desert; and though He would not impose it on the world by an express commandment (which, in that case, could not have been open to the power of dispensation), yet He showed plainly enough, by His own example, that fasting, which God had so frequently ordered in the old Law, was to be also practiced by the children of the new…The apostles, therefore, legislated for our weakness, by instituting, at the very commencement of the Christian Church, that the solemnity of Easter should be preceded by a universal fast. 

The Catechism of the Liturgy by a Religious of the Sacred Heart published by The Paulist Press, New York, 1919  affirms the apostolic origin of the Lenten fast: “The Lenten fast dates back to Apostolic times as is attested by Saint Jerome, Saint Leo the Great, Saint Cyril of Alexandria and others.” In the 2nd century, St. Irenaeus wrote to Pope St. Victor I inquiring on how Easter should be celebrated while mentioning the practice of fasting leading up to Easter.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence. Want to go deeper into knowing the Catholic Faith? Check out the resources of CatechismClass.com.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 53

In today’s episode, on the First Sunday of Lent, I address the following: 

1. The Readings for the First Sunday of Lent
2. The Stational Church Devotion
3. 20 Pious Practices for Lent

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and more. It is never too late to study the fullness of the Catholic Faith, and CatechismClass.com is the gold standard in authentic Catholic formation online. Check out their special Lenten Study Course now available for 25% off with discount code LENT25.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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Honey Does Not Violate the Traditional Lenten Fast

For those who strive to observe the stricter Lenten fast which requires abstinence from both meat and animal products all of Lent, a question arises on if eating honey would violate the fast.  Honey starts as flower nectar collected by bees, which gets broken down into simple sugars stored inside the honeycomb. The design of the honeycomb and constant fanning of the bees' wings causes evaporation, creating sweet liquid honey. Honey's color and flavor vary based on the nectar collected by the bees

Honey is produced by bees, but honey is not an animal product at least in the sense of avoiding flesh and “all that comes from flesh”. Bees are not mammals. So the product produced by bees is not forbidden on days of abstinence. What was forbidden for centuries was meat along with lacticinia. Father Hardon notes in the definition of lacticinia: "Milk (Latin, lac) and milk products, e.g., butter and cheese, and eggs or animal products formerly prohibited during Lent, along with flesh meat. In the early Middle Ages lacticinia were forbidden even on Sundays during the Lenten season." Honey does not fall into that category.

Even those groups that still observe strict Lenten abstinence allow honey. This is seen for instance in the Orthodox tradition which, in some places, still keeps abstinence from animal products at least for monks. Seasonal European Dishes by Elisabeth Luard, published in 2013, references this by noting that honey was allowed: "Orthodox pre-Revolution Russians ate only vegetables, fruit, bread and honey during Lent. The Romanians ate only Indian corn and beans. Bulgarians ate only black food for mourning - black bread, black olives, black beans in olive oil, and prunes. The full fast was often limited to the first and last weeks only."

May God grant everyone a most blessed Lenten fast with its strict abstinence from meat and lacticinia. 

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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The History of the Holy Saturday Fast

Eugene Burnand. Holy Saturday. 1907-1908. Musee des Beaux Arts, La Chaux de Finds, France.

The observance of Lent stretches back as far as Apostolic times. Lent was for centuries observed as forty days of fasting in the Roman Church with Sundays excluded from fasting but not from abstinence. That is, Ash Wednesday (since its institution) through Holy Saturday were days of fasting. I have separately cataloged the history of Lenten fasting in "History of Lenten Fasting: How to Observe the Traditional Lenten Fast."

The Lenten fast began under the Apostles themselves and was practiced in various forms in the Early Church. As time went on, the fast became uniformly observed under the pain of sin. As with all Lenten practices, changes occurred over time regarding the fast, abstinence, and hearing of Holy Mass on Holy Saturday. 

Holy Saturday Fasting Was Practiced in Apostolic Times

In the Early Church, Holy Saturday was part of the apostolic practice of abstaining from all food completely from Holy Thursday evening (or Good Friday morning) until sunset on Holy Saturday (or later). This was known as the "Passion Fast," and in practice, the aim was to fast 40 hours in honor of the 40 hours our Blessed Lord’s body lay in the tomb. Holy Saturday's fast was also practiced like the rest of Holy Week as xerophagiae: “The strictest Christian fast which is observed chiefly in the Eastern churches during Lent or especially Holy Week and in which only bread, salt, water, and vegetables may be eaten” (Webster’s Dictionary). In practice, bread, herbs, raw nuts, or raw vegetables and fruit without oil or dressing may be consumed for those who seek to keep this strict and who are unable to fast from all food whatsoever for two whole days in a row.

Heortology: A History of the Christian Festivals from their Origin to the Present Day by Dr. K.A. Heinrich Kellner states the following regarding the Lenten fast in the ancient Church:

"Among Catholics also abstinence was pushed to great lengths. The canons of Hippolytus prescribe for Holy Week only bread and salt. The Apostolic Constitutions will only permit bread, vegetables, salt and water, in Lent, flesh and wine being forbidden; and, on the last two days of Holy Week, nothing whatsoever is to be eaten. The ascetics, whose acquaintance the Gallic pilgrim made in Jerusalem, never touched bread in Lent, but lived on flour and water. Only a few could keep so strict a fast, and generally speaking people were satisfied with abstaining from flesh and wine. But this lasted throughout the entire Lent, and Chrysostom tells us that in Antioch no flesh was eaten during the whole of Lent. Abstinence from milk and eggs (the so-called lacticinia) was also the general rule."

Regarding Holy Saturday's fast, in particular, Canon 89 of the Council in Trullo in 692 AD provides an account of the piety and devotion of the faithful of that time: 

“The faithful, spending the days of the Salutatory Passion in fasting, praying and compunction of heart, ought to fast until the midnight of the Great Sabbath: since the divine Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, have shewn us how late at night it was [that the resurrection took place].” 

That tradition of fasting on Holy Saturday until midnight would last for centuries. Dom Gueranger writes in the Liturgical Year:

Such, we repeat, was the discipline of the Latin Church for nearly a thousand years: but about the 11th century, an important change began to be introduced with regard to the celebration of Mass on Holy Saturday. The Mass which, hitherto, had been celebrated during the Night preceding Easter Sunday, then began to be anticipated on the Saturday; but it was always considered as the Mass of the hour of our Lord’s Resurrection, and not as the Mass of Holy Saturday. The relaxations that had been introduced with regard to Fasting were the occasion of this change in the Liturgy.

Holy Saturday Was A Holy Day of Obligation in the Middle Ages

Holy Saturday also used to be a Holy Day of Obligation. The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decretals of Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull "Universa Per Orbem" which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one's locality. 

Some of the Holy Days of Obligation removed between 1234 and 1642 included Holy Monday through Holy Saturday in addition to Easter Wednesday through Easter Saturday. Hence by 1642, Holy Saturday was no longer a Holy Day of Obligation.

Holy Saturday Fasting Remained Practiced for Centuries

In my series outlining the changes to fasting and abstinence in the colonies—and through the modern-day United States—I pointed out that Holy Saturday often remained a day of obligatory fasting even when mitigations were issued due to the change in the time of the Vigil that happened back in the 11th century.

For instance, the papal bull "Altitudo Divini Concilii" of Pope Paul III in 1537 reduced the days of penance and those of hearing Mass for the Indians out of pastoral concern due to the physically demanding lifestyle that they lived and also largely due to the fact that they fasted so much already. As a result, the natives were required to only hear Mass on a much smaller number of days: Sundays, Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Sts Peter and Paul, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. And the only fasting days were the Fridays in Lent, Holy Saturday, and Christmas Eve. Holy Saturday remained.

Centuries later, when Pope Leo XIII issued further changes allowing animal products throughout Lent, he explicitly excluded Holy Saturday from those mitigations:

“In 1886 Leo XIII allowed meat, eggs, and milk products on Sundays of Lent and at the main meal on every weekday [of Lent] except Wednesday and Friday in the [United States]. Holy Saturday was not included in the dispensation. A small piece of bread was permitted in the morning with coffee, tea, chocolate, or a similar beverage.”

By the time of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the days of obligatory fasting as listed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law were the forty days of Lent, including Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday until noon. The Deharbe Catechism in the 1800s refers to the fast ending at Noon, so it does predate the 1917 Code. Why did Holy Saturday fasting only last until noon? It likely dates to when the Vigil Mass for Easter was moved from the night of Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday back to the morning of Holy Saturday. By the High medieval period, the celebration in the morning of the Easter Vigil (and other Triduum services) was almost the universal custom, in large part due to the fasting regulations requiring the fast to last until after Vespers. As a result, sometime after 692 AD, the fast on Holy Saturday was modified to end at noon.

Holy Saturday Fasting Wanes Along With All Other Fasting in the 1900s

Before 1951, Bishops were able to dispense laborers and their family members from the laws of abstinence, if necessary, under the workingmen's privilege that was introduced in 1895. This privilege of eating meat, though, excluded Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, and the Vigil of Christmas. In 1951, the abstinence laws in America were again revised as Father Ruff summarizes:

"In 1951 the U.S. bishops standardized regulations calling for complete abstinence from meat on Fridays, Ash Wednesday, the vigils of Assumption and Christmas, and Holy Saturday morning for everyone over age seven. On the vigils of Pentecost and All Saints, meat could be taken at just one meal. Fast days, applying to everyone between 21 and 59, were the weekdays of Lent, Ember days, and the vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and Christmas. On these fast days only one full meal was allowed, with two other meatless meals permitted which together did not make up one full meal. Eating between meals was not permitted, with milk and fruit juice permitted. Health or ability to work exempted one." 

In 1956 under Pope Pius XII, the fast, which previously ended at noon, was extended to the midnight between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, on account of the Holy Week changes enacted which made the Vigil Mass obligatory in the evening of Holy Saturday:

"The abstinence and fast prescribed for Lent, which hitherto has ceased on Holy Saturday after noon, according to canon 1252, §4 [1917 Code], will cease in the future at midnight of the same Holy Saturday."

Maxima Redemptionis Nostrae Mysteria (Nov. 16, 1955) AAS 47 (1955)

Fr. Frederick McManus, an American Canon Lawyer, commented on this change:

The Decree on the revised Holy Week changes the law of canon 1252, §4, concerning fast and abstinence on Holy Saturday. According to the canon, the Lenten fast ended after noon on Holy Saturday. This is now abrogated, the obligation is extended until midnight of Holy Saturday, and the entire day becomes one of abstinence and fast. Local Ordinaries at present possess the faculty to dispense all their subjects, including religious (even exempt), from the law of fast and abstinence on Holy Saturday.Thus they may dispense from fast or from abstinence or from both fast and abstinence on this day. 

The Rites of Holy Week (Bruce 1956), pgs 22 and 23.

In 1966, Paul VI's Paenitemini eliminated Holy Saturday and all other days of fasting except for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday in a radical departure from the past. Sadly, those changes were incorporated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which largely took Paenitemini while modifying the age of fasting.

A Traditional Holy Saturday Fast (Summary and Application)

• Early Church: All of Holy Saturday was a strict fast with abstinence
• 11th Century: The Vigil, which had taken place at night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, is moved to the daytime of Holy Saturday. This change would cause mitigations with the strict fast that had previously always been obligatory on Holy Saturday.
• 1917 Code: For at least 100+ years before the 1917 Code, the fast, which previously ended at midnight into Sunday, ended at Noon on Holy Saturday. This is largely due to the Vigil Mass taking place in the morning of Holy Saturday.
• 1956: Pope Pius XII, in changing the Vigil Mass to start only after sunset on Holy Saturday, extends the fast to midnight.

For those seeking more traditional fasting for the final days of Lent - and in preparation for the Lord's Resurrection - a return not to the 1950s or 1917 is in order. Rather, a return to treating all of Holy Saturday as a day of fasting and abstinence in the form of the Passion Fast practiced with the principles of Xerophagiae is the ideal. If we do attend a pre-1955 Easter Vigil Mass in the morning or daytime of Holy Saturday, we can eat after that Mass but I would encourage souls to keep abstinence until after attending Easter Sunday Mass.

While this is not obligatory under penalty of sin, it is a worthwhile end to our fasting as we present to Almighty God the final day of Lenten fasting for His honor and glory and in reparation for our sins. Let us all seek greater perfection and never the minimum of the law.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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Keep St. Joseph's Table Vegetarian

2018 St. Joseph Table at St. Ann Parish, Excelsior Springs (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

This coming Sunday is St. Joseph's Day (which is liturgically transferred to March 20th this year since it falls on a Sunday in Lent), but it is still an excellent time for us to have a festive meal in honor of St. Joseph. The following is quoted and adapted from The Year of St. Joseph Website.

The Feast of St. Joseph, which always falls in the middle of Lent, is especially commemorated and celebrated in Italy in general, and Sicily in particular, where St. Joseph has been long-regarded as the island’s Patron saint.  It is there, among Sicilians, that the tradition of the “Tavola di San Giuseppe” or “St. Joseph’s Table” has its origins.

Since it is Lent, the meal is traditionally vegetarian, and we would do well to ensure that no meat is eaten at this meal, especially in our traditional Catholic churches and families.

What is served? There are two constants for the “table”: 1) there is no meat since it’s Lent and 2) the presence of sesame-coated bread in symbolic shapes. Breads, baked into symbolic shapes, are the centerpiece of the food table and the altar.  The breads themselves are made from the same dough that forms traditional Italian bread and are often made into interesting and symbolic shapes for St. Joseph’s Day.  

Other foods that are often present at more elaborate St. Joseph’s Table “feasts” include:

• Minestras, or very thick soups, are made of lentils, favas and other types of beans, together with escarole, broccoli or cauliflower. Other vegetables–celery, fennel stalks, boiled and stuffed artichokes–are also traditional.
• St. Joseph’s Day Pasta, also called Sawdust Pasta or Carpenter’s Pasta, made with bread crumbs  sautéed in butter to resemble wood sawdust.   Cheese isn’t used, symbolic of the food shortage experienced in the origin legend of the tradition.
• Sweet Pasta, a pasta dish made with honey.
• Olives, figs, and other side dishes.

As no feast is complete without dessert, no Saint Joseph’s altar would be finished without the flourish of sweet items.  There are typically many cakes, biscotti, and cookies, many of which are embellished with almonds.

Two traditional desserts found at St. Joseph’s tables are sfingi–fried pieces of bread dough rolled in sugar—and zeppoli–a pastry shaped like a donut, fried or baked, and filled with a sweet pastry crème, then garnished with a dusting of powdered sugar and a maraschino cherry. Such items rose in popularity after eggs and dairy became widely permitted during Lent. Though it is possible to have vegan alternatives, in keeping with the traditional Lenten practice.

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Can I Eat Meat on St. Patrick's Day on a Friday in Lent?

Lent is the most solemn of all fasting times in the Church. From Apostolic times until 1741, meat was never allowed in Lent. Even after it was permitted at some meals, Fridays and Saturdays remained mandatory days of complete abstinence in Lent into the early 1900s. Friday in particular, the most solemn of all days on account of our Lord's death on the Cross on Friday, was a mandatory day of abstinence all year round (and it still is!) Up until the 1917 Code of Canon Law, meat was not even allowed on Holy Days of Obligation which fell on a Friday outside of Lent. The Friday fast, like Sunday Mass, is integral to Catholic life. This post is based heavily on the research which is incorporated in "The Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence." Read the full book for much more information relevant to this topic.

Definition of Fasting vs. Abstinence

Fasting refers to how much food we eat and, historically, when we eat it. It means taking only one meal during a calendar day. The meal should be an average-sized meal as overeating at the one meal is against the spirit of the fast. Fasting generally means that the meal is to be taken later in the day. Along with the one meal, up to two snacks (technically called either a collation or frustulum) are permitted. These are optional, not required. Added up together, they may not equal the size of the one meal. No other snacking throughout the day is permitted. 

Abstinence in this context refers to not eating meat. Meat refers to the fleshmeat of mammals or fowl. Beef, poultry, lamb, etc are all forbidden on days of abstinence. Abstinence does not currently prohibit animal byproducts like dairy (e.g. cheese, butter, milk) or eggs, but in times past they were prohibited. Fish is currently permitted along with shellfish and other cold-blooded animals like alligators. In times past, days of fast were always days of abstinence as well; however, not all days of abstinence were days of mandatory fasting.

The Church's Law in 1917

The days of obligatory fasting as listed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law were the forty days of Lent (including Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday until noon); the Ember Days; and the Vigils of Pentecost, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, and Christmas. Partial abstinence, the eating of meat only at the principal meal, was obligatory on all weeks of Lent (Monday through Thursday). And of course, complete abstinence was required on all Fridays, including Fridays of Lent, except when a holy day of obligation fell on a Friday outside of Lent. Saturdays in Lent were likewise days of complete abstinence.

The Church's Law in 1962

By 1962, the laws of fasting and abstinence were as follows as described in "Moral Theology" by Rev. Heribert Jone and adapted by Rev. Urban Adelman for the "laws and customs of the United States of America" copyright 1961: "Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Partial abstinence is to be observed on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays and on the Vigil of Pentecost. Days of fast are all the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, and the Vigil of Pentecost." If a vigil falls on a Sunday, the law of abstinence and fasting is dispensed that year and is not transferred to the preceding day. Father Jone adds additional guidance for the Vigil of the Nativity fast: "General custom allows one who is fasting to take a double portion of food at the collation on Christmas Eve (jejunium gaudiosum)."

The Modern Church Law

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on November 18, 1966. Abstinence was kept obligatory on all Fridays of Lent, except Solemnities (i.e. First Class Feasts), on Ash Wednesday, and on Good Friday. Abstinence on all Fridays throughout the year was "especially recommended," and the faithful who did choose to eat meat were directed to perform an alternative penance on those Fridays outside of Lent, even though the US Bishops removed the long-establish precept of requiring Friday penance. The document stated in part: "Even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we ... hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to church law." And finally, fasting on all weekdays of Lent was "strongly recommended" but not made obligatory under penalty of sin.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law largely took Paul VI's apostolic constitution aside from the modification of the age at which fasting binds. Per the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the age of fast was changed to begin at 18 - previously it was 21 - and to still conclude at midnight when an individual completes his 59th birthday. Friday penance is required per these laws on all Fridays of the year except on Solemnities, a dramatic change from the previous exception being only on Holy Days of Obligation.

Per the 1983 Code of Canon Law, fasting and complete abstinence per these rules are required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The notion of "partial abstinence," introduced under Pope Benedict XIV in 1741, was also removed. By this point, the days of obligatory fast had been reduced to merely two days. And most Catholics only abstained from meat on the 7 Fridays in Lent.

Fridays in Lent

Thus, even as the fast and abstinence requirements deteriorated, Friday abstinence remained mandatory on Fridays in Lent. To intentionally violate Friday abstinence is a mortal sin - it is not a small matter. In fact, in former times, Catholic nations made the sale of meat a crime as The Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence discusses in the context of 16th century England.

History of St. Patrick's Day in Lent

    

For the Irish (and for Irish Americans), St. Patrick's Day is both a cultural milestone and, traditionally, a very significant spiritual day. Sadly, this element has also been lost, which is ultimately why so many feel it necessary to seek out dispensations from Friday abstinence on the feastday of a saint who, ironically, was a fearless champion of fasting!

The first record of dispensation from Lenten fast and/or abstinence on St. Patrick's Day was early in America's history at a time when all of Lent, aside from Sundays, were days of mandatory fasting for those between the ages of 21 and 60 (health exceptions aside). With the growing number of Irish immigrants to America in the early 1800s, special attention was given to dispense from fasting when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday. This was done for the members of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1837 and would become customary in the United States. The dispensation granted in 1837 "was granted on the proviso that all diners gave a small sum to charity." But this was in Boston, which was an epi-center of Irish Americans.

Back in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was a Holy Day of Obligation and still, without special dispensation, a day of mandatory fasting and abstinence. Interestingly, "The Catholic's Pocket Prayer-Book," published by Henri Proost & Co. in 1924, notes that for Australia and New Zealand, all days in Lent were days of fasting "except Sundays and St. Patrick's Day." The same pocket guide lists the days of fasting and abstinence for Ireland and lists no such exception. Yet even for Australia and New Zealand, no exception for abstinence existed on St. Patrick's Day in 1924.

The Dispensations for St. Patrick's Day in 2023

As St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday this year, dioceses have already been granting dispensations or statements declining to do so. The responses so far, illustrated in an interactive graphic via the Catholic News Agency fall into the categories of: dispensation granted, dispensation granted only in certain situations (otherwise abstinence is binding under pain of mortal sin), or no dispensation. Follow the link for more detailed information as changes are happening on a daily basis.

Conclusion: The True Celebration of a Catholic, St. Patrick's Day

Despite the changes he introduced to Lenten fasting in 1741, Pope Benedict XIV implored:

"The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God's glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe."

Modern Lent is no longer a 40 day fast. The days of abstinence for the average Catholic are appallingly few (it used to be roughly 1/3 of the year!) We would be violating the entire spirit of Lent by availing ourselves even of a valid dispensation from Lenten abstinence. Dom Gueranger accordingly writes:

But it will be asked: “Are there, then, no lawful dispensations?” We answer that there are; and that they are more needed now than in former ages, owing to the general weakness of our constitutions. Still, there is great danger of our deceiving ourselves. If we have strength to go through great fatigues when our own self-love is gratified by them, how is it we are too weak to observe abstinence? If a slight inconvenience deters us from doing this penance, how shall we ever make expiation for our sins? For expiation is essential painful to nature.

It must be clearly stated there is no incompatibility between fasting and abstaining and celebrating the saints. Even Sundays of Lent used to be required days of abstinence (but not fast). Let us fast and abstain always on St. Joseph's Day, Annunciation Day, and St. Patrick's Day each year during Lent. Our adherence to and preservation of the Traditional Catholic Faith requires this. Even with the fast, it is possible to honor St. Patrick’s Day with a loaf of traditional Irish soda bread. Check your local bakery or grocery store and get a loaf to have at dinner.

As Catholics, we abstain on Fridays in Lent, just as we go to Mass on Sundays. As traditional Catholics, we must maintain Friday abstinence and should encourage everyone else to do so for the honor of God and for the glory of St. Patrick. Let us offer up additional prayers and penances this year on St. Patrick's Day for the many who will mortally sin against our Lord and mock His sacrifice on the Cross by eating meat. While it may seem to be a small offense, it was the eating of a forbidden fruit that brought about original sin and the loss of paradise in the Garden of Eden. If we love God, surely we can say no to flesh meat on at least Friday in Lent. Right?

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Gorzkie żale (Bitter Lamentations) Devotion

All hail, O Jesus, all honor to You, For man degraded, humiliated, To You, all holy, praises and glory. To You, Christ Redeemer. 

Gorzkie żale (Bitter Lamentations) is a Catholic devotion containing many hymns that developed out of Poland in the 18th century. The devotion is primarily a sung reflection and meditation on the Passion of Christ and the sorrows of His Blessed Mother. For an English translation of this devotion, please click here.

Pictured above is the devotion observed at Holy Trinity Polish Catholic Church in Chicago, IL this year.

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The Importance of 40 Hours at the Beginning & End of Lent

 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7)

As we prepare to enter into the holy season of Lent, we should prepare to observe a strict routine of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Below are 13 articles worth reading at this time:

1. Fasting and Abstinence Rules
2. History of Lenten Fasting: How to Observe the Traditional Lenten Fast
3. Why do we fast? St. Thomas Aquinas Explains
4. Lenten Embertide Fast
5. How the Traditional Latin Mass Reinforces Lent as a Fast
6. Stational Churches for Each Day of Lent
7. What is Ash Wednesday & what are the rules for this day?
8. Read One Spiritual Book this Lent
9. Book Recommendations for Lent
10. 10 Traditional Catholic Charities: Almsgiving During Lent
11. Each Feria Day in Lent has a Proper Mass
12. Holy Communion in Lent: The Most Pleasing to God
13. Printable Lent Preparation Guide

While it is important that we observe prayer, fasting (including abstinence from meat), and almsgiving throughout all of Lent, there should be a particular focus on beginning and ending Lent well. This can take the form of starting and ending with 40 intense hours.

Why 40 Hours?

40 hours is significant because Our Blessed Lord was dead for 40 hours before His Resurrection. 40 is also a number of completion as shown by His 40 day fast in the desert, the Great Flood which lasted 40 days, and the 40 years of wandering in the desert by the Chosen People after their deliverance from Egypt.

40 Hours is also connected with Mardi Gras immediately preceding Lent. As a result of the excesses of Fat Tuesday and the carnival season, the Church instituted the practice of observing the 40 Hours Devotion in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Father Weiser remarks:

In order to encourage the faithful to atone in prayer and penance for the many excesses and scandals committed at carnival time, Pope Benedict XIV, in 1748, instituted a special devotion for the three days preceding Lent, called ‘Forty Hours of Carnival,’ which is held in many churches of Europe and America, in places where carnival frolics are of general and long-standing tradition. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day Monday and Tuesday, and devotions are held in the evening, followed by the Eucharistic benediction.

The Church also instituted the Votive Feast of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ Deformed in the Passion for the Tuesday after Quinquagesima (i.e., Fat Tuesday) as a means of making reparation for the sins of Mardi Gras. In fact, our Blessed Lord Himself asked for such reparation to His Holy Face in apparition to Mother Pierina in 1938:

See how I suffer. Nevertheless, I am understood by so few. What gratitude on the part of those who say they love me. I have given My Heart as a sensible object of My great love for man and I give My Face as a sensible object of My Sorrow for the sins of man. I desire that it be honored by a special feast on Tuesday in Quinquagesima (Shrove Tuesday – the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). The feast will be preceded by novena in which the faithful make reparation with Me uniting themselves with my sorrow.

Start And End Lent Well

Beyond making reparation this Tuesday for the sins of Mardi Gras and the mortal sins of those who will violate the laws of fast and abstinence, we can start Lent well by observing a 40 hour fast. In fact, as St. Thomas Aquinas relates, the Lenten Fast at his time was characterized by no food taken on either Ash Wendesday or Good Friday, if possible. This is a significant sacrifice, far beyond the "one meal and two smaller meals" statement which most Catholics associate with fasting days.

Beyond beginning our Lenten fast with a 40 hour fast from all solid food, which should open our minds to heavenly things and allow us to perform penance, we should conclude Lent with the same vigour. In honor of the 40 hours our Blessed Lord's soul was separated from His Body in death, let us offer an intense beginning and end of Lent this year for the honor of God, as far as our health permits us to do so.

May God grant us the strength to begin and end well so that, like St. Paul, we may say: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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Lenten Observance Over Time: A Comparison of Regulations Over the Centuries

Click for the Full Image

As we prepare for another holy season of Lent, I wish to share this chart developed by Tyler Gonzalez showing the changes over time to the Lenten fast. His contributions to this chart and the subsequent annotations were invaluable. I am not aware of any such comparison ever having been created. We would do well to see in this image the great discipline of our forefathers and to rekindle some of these practices this Lent in our fasting.

Key of Terms and Annotated Citations: 

A collation is a small repast allowed originally only in the evenings of fast days. 

A frustulum is a small repast allowed originally only in the mornings on fast days. 

Xerophagiae is a diet of simple, dry, uncooked food, such as raw nuts, bread, fruits and vegetables. Fish and oil are not part of it neither are flesh and animal products. It was a precept to fast on these only during Holy Week by custom and/or decree until the time of Gregory the Great who mentions nothing of it. It may still have been a custom at that time but no mention of it is made in the decretals. 

The Passion Fast is a term which refers to the fast which began for some as early as sunset on Holy Thursday and as late as 8am on Good Friday. No one was allowed to eat any food during that time until sunset on Holy Saturday, which since most fasted for Communion extended until morning on Easter Sunday. It was often called a “40hrs Fast” and represents the original Lenten fast. For those who were to weak to follow this fast the minimum fast at this time was that of xerophagiae. 

1. Water is not allowed during the day outside of sunset repast. (Butler, Moveable Feasts, Fasts…, 1839, p.155) (C.f. AP. S. Prudentius, hymn, vi, p.188) 

2. On the Sunset Repast. (Butler, p.149) (Tertullian, De Jejun, c.x., p.549); (Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs…, 1958, p.170)

3. When the collation was allowed by indult. (Butler, p. 149) 

4. When the collation was allowed to the laity. (Butler, p. 152) 

5. The original size of the collation. (Butler, p.152) 

6. When the collation became ¼ of a meal/8 ounces. It became ¼ of a meal in the 16th century. (Laymann, Theologia Moralis, Lib. IV, Tract. VIII, Ch. I, pp.186-187, 1630) 

7. The origin of the frustulum originated around the time of St. Alphonsus Liguori c. 18th century (The Jurist, 1952, p.188) The more common opinion is that St. Alphonsus speaks of electuaries and not a frustulum which were popular in his time. That the origins of the frustulum can be traced to his time is true as a kind of proto-frustulum. However, the greater proof lies in the claim that the frustulum was not explicitly allowed until the end of the 19th century. (Catholic Encyclopedia, Lent) 

8. Fish in Lent permitted in its simple “less dainty” form in the 7th Century. The allowance of shellfish permitted around the 10th century (Butler, Moveable Feasts, Fasts…, 1839, p.146)

9. That animal products were not had on days of abstinence. (Weiser, p.170) (Cf. Decretals of Gratian, Letter of Pope St. Gregory the Great to Saint Augustine of Canterbury, 604 AD).

10. That Sundays were days of abstinence. (Thurston, Herbert. "Lent." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9, 1910.) 

11. The Passion Fast. (Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs…, 1958, p.201) (Cf. The writings of Saint Irenaeus in 202 AD as quoted in The Church History of Eusebius V 24, 12; PG, 20, 502f)

12. Xerophagiae in Lent. (Butler, p.203-204) 

13. On wine in Lent. (Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year: Lent, 1887, p. 5) (Cf. St. Cyril of Jerusalem [Catech. iv]) 

14. On when liquids other than wine and water allowed. (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, IIa IIae,qu.cxlvii,art.vi,ad eum.) (Rev. Antoine Villien, "A History of the Commandments of the Church", p. 315). Since liquids do not break the fast the kind of liquid and/or when it can be taken is now a non-matter. This discourse by St. Thomas was the beginning of this radical change which would not become a general custom until around the 15th century when food became allowed at the collation. Until then liquid was strictly speaking only allowed twice a day.

15. When the time of the meal changed to 3pm. (Butler, p.149) (St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae, Second Part of the Second Part, q.147, a.7) 

16. When the time of the meal changed to 12pm. (Butler, p.150) (Durandus a S. Porciano, in 4 dist., 15 quaest., 9., art. 7) 

17. When the time of the meal became a defunct matter. (CIC/17, c.1252) 

18. Not less than a second meal for collation size. (Jone, p. 263) (McHugh and Callan, pp. 3118-3119). As of 1951 the United States Conference of Bishops adopted the relative norm as the law for the US and as such now allows the collation to be more than 8 ounces. 

19. The quality of food at the collation-Fish, warm fish, animal products. (Butler, p. 153) (Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity’s Directory, 1839, Baltimore.) (Villien, p. 312)

20. The consumption of both fish and flesh meat at the same meal. (Butler, p.163) 

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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Early Christians Fasted Even from Water During Lent

The history of the Lenten fast is replete with inspiration for us. Whereas modern man has steadily over the centuries given in to laxities and has abandoned fasting - and prayer and almsgiving too - it is necessary for those Catholics faithful to the Traditions to restore some of the fervor of our forefathers in the Faith. 

To the Early Christians, fasting was performed until sundown, in imitation of the previous Jewish tradition. Dom Gueranger’s writings affirm, “It was the custom with the Jews, in the Old Law, not to take the one meal, allowed on fasting days, till sun-set. The Christian Church adopted the same custom. It was scrupulously practiced, for many centuries, even in our Western countries." 

Liquids Broke the Fast In the Early Church

In the early Church, fasting also included abstinence from wine, taking man back to his antediluvian diet before God permitted Noah to eat meat and drink wine. As such, in apostolic times, the main meal was a small one, mainly of bread and vegetables. Fish, but not shellfish, became permitted on days of abstinence around the 6th century. Hence, some Eastern Rites will abstain from meat, animal products, wine, oil, and fish on fasting days which harkens back to these ancient times.

Remarkably, even water was forbidden during fasting times in the very ancient church. Fr. Alban Butler in Moveable Feasts and Fasts provides testimony of this when he writes: 

"St. Fructuosus, the holy bishop of Tarragon in Spain, in the persecution of Valerian in 259, being led to martyrdom on a Friday at ten o'clock in the morning, refused to drink, because it was not the hour to break the fast of the day, though fatigued with imprisonment, and standing in need of strength to sustain the conflict of his last agony. 'It is a fast,' said he: 'I refuse to drink; it is not yet the ninth hour; death itself shall not oblige me to abridge my fast.'"

The Pulpit Orator published in 1884 by Fr. Pustet & Company similarly notes: "That we take only one full meal, Sundays excepted. The Christians of the first ages observed this ecclesiastical ordinance very exactly, after the setting of the sun. Nor did they drink water, unless there was a necessity. A council at Aix-la-Chapelle declares: 'Only when necessity requires it, on account of hard labor or weakness, is it allowed to drink.'"

Father Alban writes elsewhere, "It is undoubted, that anciently to drink on fasting days was no less forbidden than to eat, only in the refection after sunset." The account of St. Fructuosus illustrates that while water would break the fast, water was permitted when the meal was taken later in the evening. This reference to taking the meal after a set time prescribed by the Church would last for centuries, even though it would be moved up ultimately to noon by the 14th century. 

Father Alban also insightfully remarks, "Even the first allowance of a collation, which consisted only of a draught of drink, shows it was not allowed before to drink at all on fasting days before the hour of the meal...The Mahometans, though immersed in sensuality and vice, keep up this essential law in their fasts, which consist in neither eating, nor drinking, nor smoking the whole day, from morning to the rising of the stars in the evening." The custom of fasting even from water was similarly practiced in ancient Judaism.

The American Ecclesiastical Review in a 1938 piece on the Lenten fast notes that in the Early Church, even after water became allowed, liquids other than water would break the fast:

The fast observed in the early Church was much more severe than that of later centuries. The law of fasting did not permit the use of any food earlier than sunset during Lent and not earlier than three o'clock in the afternoon on fast days outside of Lent. Even in St. Thomas's time, the hour for the taking of food was circa horam sextam or noon. The earlier custom prohibited all liquids except water outside the meal, later liquids were allowed according to the principle that they do not break the fast. It was not until the thirteenth century that the custom of taking a little food such as fruit bread salad and the like in the evening was introduced. This refection received the name of collation apparently from the Collations of Cassian usually read by the monks at this repast. The frustulum or small quantity of food allowed in the morning is a practice of comparatively recent origin. Only when we consider the rigor of fasting as practised by our forefathers in the Faith can we appreciate the indulgence that the Church has accorded Catholics in this age.

Water Broke the Eucharistic Fast Until 1953

The final vestige of abstaining from even water was in the form of the Eucharistic fast leading up to the reception of Holy Communion. This was changed by Pope Pius XII on January 6, 1953, in Christus Dominus, which stated: “In the future, it shall be a general and common principle for all, both priests and faithful, that natural water does not break the Eucharistic fast.” Further changes were introduced on March 25, 1957, in Sacram Communionem by Pope Pius XII again. While legislating on a number of finer details, as a whole, Pope Pius XII’s legislation mitigated the fast to be for three hours before Holy Communion from all solid food and all alcoholic beverages. Nonalcoholic beverages were subject to a one hour fast, though water was permitted at any time as stated in Christus Dominus. Those old enough to remember Masses before 1953 may recall that Catholic schools would cover the drinking fountains until after Holy Mass had ended.

Conclusion

While this practice of abstaining from liquids may not be something we want to practice this Lent, it is worthwhile to consider for the sake of inspiration the remarkable discipline that Early Christians kept in the Lenten fast. And we too can keep an austere Lent this year by retaining some of the practices kept by our forefathers in the Early and/or Medieval Church.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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How the Traditional Latin Mass Reinforces Lent as a Fast

It is lamentable that so few Catholics keep the Traditional Lenten fast as practiced by our forefathers in the Faith for centuries. The Traditional Lenten fast - which was greatly watered down since the 1700s - generally constituted the following:

• Fasting applies for those age 18 or older (but not obligatory for those 60 years of age or older)
• Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: If possible, no solid food. Only black coffee, tea, or water.
• Mondays through Saturdays: Only one meal preferably after sunset or at least until not before 3 PM. A morning frustulum and evening collation (i.e. the two "snacks") are permitted but not required. No meat or animal products are allowed for anyone, regardless of age - that included even fish in the Early Church.
• Sundays: No meat or animal products allowed. Abstinence remained on Sundays even when fasting did not.
• Holy Week (except Good Friday which is covered above): Only Bread, Salt, and Herbs are permitted for the main meal. Frustulum and collation permitted (of bread, herbs, and salt) but omitted if possible.
• Holy Saturday: No food until Noon. Abstinence including from all animal products continues until Easter begins.

While we have happily seen an increase in the number of Traditional Latin Masses offered over the past decade, few Catholics have promoted a return to the fasting that our ancestors knew and practiced religiously. In fact, even the rules in place as of 1962 are substantially harder than what the average Catholic observes today. The laws of fasting and abstinence were as follows, as described in Moral Theology (copyright 1961) by Rev. Heribert Jone and adapted by Rev. Urban Adelman, for the “laws and customs of the United States of America”:

“Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Partial abstinence is to be observed on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays and on the Vigil of Pentecost. Days of fast are all the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, and the Vigil of Pentecost.”

One highly interesting liturgical facet particular to the season of Lent is that every Lenten feria has its own propers. That is, each day of Lent has its own Introit, Collect, Epistle reading, Gospel reading, Offertory verse, Communion verse, and Post Communion Prayer. Lent further adds a prayer over the people immediately after the Post Communion. Dom Gueranger notes:

"Each feria of Lent has a proper Mass; whereas, in Advent, the Mass of the preceding Sunday is repeated during the week. This richness of the lenten liturgy is a powerful means for our entering into the Church's spirit, since she hereby brings before us, under so many forms, the sentiments suited to this holy time... All this will provide us with most solid instruction; and as the selections from the Bible, which are each day brought before us, are not only some of the finest of the sacred volume, but are, moreover, singularly appropriate to Lent, their attentive perusal will be productive of a twofold advantage."

Now the actual text of the Lenten Masses underscores the importance of the Lenten fast and repeatedly refers to the fasting done by the Faithful at this time. The Church in Her liturgy assumes and expects the Faithful in attendance at the Traditional Latin Mass to at least be keeping the fasting rules in place as of 1962 - if not the more robust fasting practiced before the mitigations of the preceding centuries.

The Preface for instance not only underscores the ongoing 40-day bodily fast but also mentions some of the benefits of this healing remedy:

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to Thee, holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: Who by this bodily fast dost curb our vices, lift our minds, strength and rewards bestow; through Christ our Lord. Through Whom Angels praise Thy Majesty, Dominations worship, Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the hosts of heaven with blessed Seraphim unite, exult, and celebrate. And we entreat that Thou wouldst bid our voices too be heard with theirs, singing with lowly praise...

The collect for Ash Wednesday also highlights that day as the beginning of the fast of Lent and not a mere one day fast:

Grant, O Lord, to Thy faithful people, that they may undertake with fitting piety this period of fasting, and complete it with steadfast devotion.

The collect for Friday after Ash Wednesday for instance continues the reference to the Lenten fast:

Further with Thy gracious favor, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the fasts which we have begun: that the bodily observance which we keep, we may be able also to practice with sincere intention. 

And likewise with the collect for Saturday after Ash Wednesday:

O Lord, hearken to our supplications: and grant that we may celebrate with devout service this solemn fast, which Thou hast ordained for the healing both of soul and of body.

In the Mass Propers for the First Sunday of Lent, fasting is referenced in the Epistle while the Gospel reading recounts our Lord's forty days of fasting in the desert. And the collect, while not mentioning fasting, does mention abstinence, as our ancestors regularly kept abstinence even the Sundays of Lent up until the 1800s:

O God, Who dost purify Thy Church by the yearly observance of Lent: grant to Thy household, that what we strive to obtain from Thee by abstinence, we may achieve by good works.

Likewise, in the Divine Office, the ordinary of Lent refers to the bodily fast of Lent. It is a known peculiarity to the traditional Breviary that the ordinary of the Lenten season only begins with First Vespers for the First Sunday in Lent. The first four weekdays of Lent use the ordinary for time throughout the year, a holdover from ancient times before Ash Wednesday was established as the beginning of Lent. 

Starting therefore on the First Sunday of Lent, the prayers of the Breviary further underscore the traditional Lenten fast. In the hymn for Matins for this time, the hymn implores us to keep the Lenten fast. This hymn begins as follows:

The fast, as taught by holy lore, We keep in solemn course once more: The fast to all men known, and bound In forty days of yearly round. 

The law and seers that were of old In diverse ways this Lent foretold, Which Christ, all seasons’ King and Guide, In after ages sanctified. 

More sparing therefore let us make The words we speak, the food we take, Our sleep and mirth, —and closer barred Be every sense in holy guard. 

Avoid the evil thoughts that roll Like waters o’er the heedless soul; Nor let the foe occasion find Our souls in slavery to bind.

The little chapter of Terce taken from Joel 2:12-13 refers to fasting as does the antiphon of Sext: "With the armor of justice let us give ourselves to much patience and fasting." And the same can be seen in the hymn of Vespers which begins as follows:

O kind Creator, bow thine ear 

To mark the cry, to know the tear 

Before thy throne of mercy spent 

In this thy holy fast of Lent.

Turning again to the propers for the Mass, the references to fasting continue repeatedly and include the collect of Monday in the First Week of Lent; the Lesson, Collect, and Gospel for Ember Wednesday in Lent; the collect for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Second Week of Lent; the secret prayer for Thursday in the Second Week of Lent; and more. The collect for Friday in the Second Week of Lent for instance prays:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that cleansed by this holy fast, we may arrive in the right dispositions at the holy feast which is to come.

By the third week of Lent the references continue to refer to the ongoing fast of Lent as expressed for instance in the collect for Monday in the Third Week of Lent:

Pour forth in Thy mercy, O Lord, we beseech Thee, Thy grace into our hearts: that as we abstain from bodily food, so we may also restrain our senses from hurtful excesses.  

The collect two days later on Wednesday asks pardon from God for those who are undertaking "wholesome fasting" who also "abstain from harmful vices."

Abstinence is explicitly mentioned in the collect for Thursday in the First Week of Lent. And temperance - which is strengthened by both fasting and abstinence - is mentioned by name in the collect on Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent. 

The Gradual on Thursday in the Third Week of Lent, which is the exact middle of the Lenten fast, is taken from Psalm 144 and references God providing "meat in due season," which is certainly a reference to the upcoming celebration of the Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday when abstinence ends. Hence, by the time Lent reaches its midpoint, the faithful have heard either exhortations or references to fasting in the collects over a dozen times. And it does not end there as the next day's collect on Friday in the Third Week of Lent asks God to "bless our fasts" with His gracious favor as "in body we abstain from food, so we may fast from sin in mind." Similar words occur in the collect for Saturday in the Third Week of Lent.

This is a mere sampling. References to fasting continue. In one more example, the collect for Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent prays:

O God, who through fasting grantest to the just the reward of their merits and to sinners forgiveness: have mercy on Thy clients, that confession of our guilt may enable us to obtain pardon for ours sins.

When Passiontide begins on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, the focus in the Breviary and the Mass shifts from the corporal punishment we bear for our sins to an awareness of the suffering we cause our Lord. But even with this focus change, fasting references do not end as seen in the collect for Monday of Passion Week:

Hallow our fasts, we beseech Thee, O Lord: and mercifully grant us the forgiveness of all our faults.

Consequently, the Church in Her Liturgy through both the propers of the Mass and through the Breviary references and expects the Christian faithful to be observing Lenten fasting and abstinence. These repeated references to the Lenten fast unequivocally illustrate how the Lenten fast should be kept by every one of fasting and/or abstinence age who attends the Tridentine Mass. To attend the Traditional Mass and to keep the watered-down, virtually non-existent fast prescribed in the 1983 Code of Canon Law would be schizophrenic. Keep the Traditional Lenten fast and all traditional fasts. 

And for those looking for ideas on what to make to eat on fasting days, the Lenten Cookbook produced by Sophia Institute Press has a section on vegan recipes that is worth checking out.

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