1st Post: Questions on Fast and Abstenance

[tcheramie]

First of all, here goes: In Jewish (and I assume early Christian times, and also today in Islam) Days of fast are usually marked as beginning at sundown on the day prior to the fast (calendar day) until sundown on that day when the fast is broken. Is this the way we should also observe these days?

Also, maybe I am taking this too far because i know fully well what the current guidelines are for the US Catholics, but as far as Abstaining is concerned should we worry about things like milk eggs and cheese? This seems to be a point of conjecture among different social groups throughout the history of time.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

If you are a Latin Rite Catholic (Roman Catholic) then you need not worry about eggs or dairy products. Eastern Catholics, especially those of the Byzantine Rite, do abstain from eggs and dairy products if they are following the strict fast.

Deacon Ed

 

[prodromos]

tcheramie:

First of all, here goes: In Jewish (and I assume early Christian times, and also today in Islam) Days of fast are usually marked as beginning at sundown on the day prior to the fast (calendar day) until sundown on that day when the fast is broken. Is this the way we should also observe these days?

In those days there was no electricity lighting everything up until well after sundown so people usually went to sleep soon after sunset. We tend to remain awake until much later these days so it is permissable to begin and end the fast at midnight or perhaps at 10.00pm if that is what time you usually go to sleep. The thing is to be consistent and not change from one to the other to suit yourself.

John

 

[Timidity]

tcheramie:

In Jewish (and I assume early Christian times, and also today in Islam) Days of fast are usually marked as beginning at sundown on the day prior to the fast (calendar day) until sundown on that day when the fast is broken. Is this the way we should also observe these days?

If you want to go by the letter of the law, Canon Law specifies that a day is a 24-hour period beginning at midnight.