Some people say it’s acceptable to end your fast after 3pm on Good Friday. Others say only on Easter Sunday.
I’ve heard of people do both. The general consensus is my family is “whenever you want” out of those 2 days. The idea is that Jesus had already completed his sacrifice and the buildup to his death is over, ie no more suffering. Thus, you end your fast.
Thoughts? I’m finding it tempting to resume my common activities after Good Friday mass.
Easter Sunday or after the Easter Vigil on Saturday night IF you go. Holy Saturday marks the time that Jesus was believed by his disciples to be buried in the tomb; there is no Resurrection, ritually speaking, until the end of the Easter mass.
This Saturday idea feels like jumping the gun or impatience.
Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence in dioceses of the United States, so it is not acceptable to break your fast on Good Friday. Remember, a liturgical day is midnight to midnight.
Like most days in Lent, Holy Saturday is neither a day of fast nor abstinence, but I will add this: Going into a church to pray or meditate is a very startling experience for me when I see the altar completely bare and the tabernacle open and empty. It lends itself to prayer, reflection, and penance. However, there is no rule against eating meat, or eating three full meals, on Holy Saturday that apply to lay people that I am aware of. So you can eat whatever you wish.
We are very much encouraged to maintain the Good Friday fast until after the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday Mass, whichever we attend.
As for our personal Lenten fast, while we can maintain that or not, as we wish, I don’t understand why anyone would want to break that before they have celebrated Easter?
It’s true that Lent ends with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper but the time between that Mass and the Vigil is even more solemn & penitential than it was during Lent.
I remember reading about this last year. A priest explained that the Lenten fast is followed by the Triduum which also has a penitential tone. Thus we end the fast on Easter. That makes a lot of sense to me and so I plan to break the fast on Easter day.
Technically, Lent ends at the start of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, on Holy Thursday evening; when the Holy Triduum begins. Now when you think about it after the mass, it’s pretty late so you might as well continue to fast, :sad_yes: at least through Good Friday, since you have to both fast & abstain on Good Friday :bowdown2:(which includes no snacks and in between meals) :bigyikes:; SOoooooo - why not just continue until Easter Sunday, it will make breaking your fast that much more joyful. :extrahappy: