Abstinence Friday during Lent - Working Graveyards

[SjMelnychuk]

I thought I’d post this here to find out what other Catholics have to say…

During Lent and other days when abstinence and fasting is a requirement I have wondered about something.

I sleep most of Friday because I work a lot of graveyard shifts.

So far, during Lent what I’ve done is basically start early and end late. So I end up starting Thursday night, I’ll have a meal before work Thursday night, and then on Friday morning I’d have an English muffin with butter and jam and a coffee. And for a meal last Friday I had half a small fillet of fish on lettuce.

During Friday my blood sugar levels were so wonky I had to snack on nuts and dried fruit. It was either that or call in sick for work. I’m borderline diabetic which makes fasting difficult but not necessarily impossible. It really depends on how well I’ve prepared.

Last Friday morning when I got off work I had an English muffin with butter and jam with a coffee. Then I went home and to bed. My next meal, I brought with me gluten-free chips and hummus. It’s now Saturday morning 04:24am my time and about to have some more of these chips and hummus.

Question I present to people:

1. If you end up sleeping through Fridays during Lent what are the options for Catholics.
2. Would you then Fast part of Thursday as well when Thursday and Friday bleed into one day? Then it’s like perhaps I need to fast all of Thursday too because I wonder if I eat meat late Thursday evening before my Thursday night/ Friday morning shift, if that’s wrong?

Also, do you folks just drink water on Friday or do you still drink tea / coffee / juice?

I don’t recall my Grandmother ever abstaining from her tea or coffee so I generally have followed her lead in this as she was very old school traditional Catholic but then again, perhaps she got away with drinking tea / coffee etc because of her age ??

Anyways, I’m doing what I know, doing my best to adapt as a borderline diabetic and doing shift work. I’d be interested to hear from others, especially if they can relate to what I’m saying re: graveyard shifts and abstinence on Fridays when working over the weekend.

Hopefully I’ve been clear on what I’m getting at.

 

[paperwight66]

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only two days we are obliged to fast, and there are exceptions on health grounds.

 

[SjMelnychuk]

I was told every Friday during Lent Season not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

 

[SjMelnychuk]

I’m just trying to find out how others in my position participate during Lent Season, how they Fast under these circumstances not necessarily for those with healthy issues that might prevent people from fasting but I’m sure if you’re sleeping all day Friday that’s most of Friday, it’s not much of a discipline if you are sleeping your Friday away.

 

[QuasiCatholic]

I was told every Friday during Lent Season not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

If you live in the U.S., then you were told wrong.

Not sure how it works in other countries, but I"m sure someone could help you look it up if you said what country you’re in.

We’re supposed to give up meat on all Fridays in lent (abstinence), but not limit food in general (fasting).

 

[Dorothy]

If you live in the U.S., then you were told wrong.

Not sure how it works in other countries, but I"m sure someone could help you look it up if you said what country you’re in.

We’re supposed to give up meat on all Fridays in lent (abstinence), but not limit food in general (fasting).

So, it is abstinence on Fridays during Lent, not fasting. (Except for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, when a fast should take place, as well as abstinence.)

Of course, medical issues excuse from the strict fast.

Sometimes there is confusion between fasting and abstinence, but once the facts get understood in our minds it usually stays.

 

[Catholic1954]

I was told every Friday during Lent Season not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

Here in the US, fasting is mandatory for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday only; check with your diocese if your priest has told you something else. Fasting involves food, you can have coffee, milk, juice, a smoothie or protein shake, just skip the donuts, brownies or banana bread etc… I work 11:00pm to around 6:00am. The day does not start until midnight, so I eat just before that, sleep when I get home and then have 1 light meal and 2 smaller ones after I wake up; it’s all within the rules of fast and abstinence. If you wish to do more, then try fasting on your day off, when your hours may be a little more regular, but Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are still required.

 

[St_Francis]

This is what I do: I wake up on Friday (at whatever time) and fast and/or abstain until I go to bed (even if going to bed is early Saturday morning rather than late Friday night.

This also means that Thursday doesn’t “end” for me until I go to sleep after waking up on Thirsday, so my Thirsday may go to early Friday morning.

I did consider doing it from midnight to midnight but decided this system worked better for me. I have occasional bouts of insomnia which knock me off a normal schedule.

However, if you are borderline diabetic, you should ask uour doctor what you can and cannot do. Some are medically unable to do a fast like that, and they generally substitute additional prayers or something (altho afaict they are not obliged to as they are on Fridays outside of Lent).

 

[SjMelnychuk]

Well my RCIA Sponsor told me the following:

Abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent Season. But also said on Friday 2 very small meals and no snacking.

So for breakfast I had an English muffin with butter and jam and a small half a fillet of fish on lettuce last Friday and last night I had chips and hummus because I didn’t have time to prepare anything else.

I live in Canada so perhaps my Sponsor is right? She’s very traditional. Her mother, my Great Aunt lived as a Nun for a season but didn’t take her final vows but to say, I can’t see that she gave me wrong info

 

[ack]

Well my RCIA Sponsor told me the following:

Abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent Season. But also said on Friday 2 very small meals and no snacking.

So for breakfast I had an English muffin with butter and jam and a small half a fillet of fish on lettuce last Friday and last night I had chips and hummus because I didn’t have time to prepare anything else.

I live in Canada so perhaps my Sponsor is right? She’s very traditional. Her mother, my Great Aunt lived as a Nun for a season but didn’t take her final vows but to say, I can’t see that she gave me wrong info

The “2 very small meals and no snacking” rule applies to only 2 days during the year – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Every other Friday, you can eat whenever you want, as long as you avoid meat.

Although certain things vary from diocese to diocese, it is highly unlikely that your diocese is stricter than this. What diocese do you live in? Are you joining the Eastern Rite (meaning… are you going to a church like a Byzantine Catholic Church or a Maronite Catholic Church or a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church…or are you just going to a “regular” Catholic Church)?

 

[SjMelnychuk]

The “2 very small meals and no snacking” rule applies to only 2 days during the year – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Every other Friday, you can eat whenever you want, as long as you avoid meat.

Although certain things vary from diocese to diocese, it is highly unlikely that your diocese is stricter than this. What diocese do you live in? Are you joining the Eastern Rite (meaning… are you going to a church like a Byzantine Catholic Church or a Maronite Catholic Church or a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church…or are you just going to a “regular” Catholic Church)?

I joined the Roman Catholic Church last Easter. Guess I’ll get greater clarity from a Priest I know, who should be able to correct this. Perhaps it is just abstinence from Meat on Friday’s during Lent.

That seems to be more reasonable and may be what my Sponsor meant to say

 

[Vico]

…

Would you then Fast part of Thursday as well when Thursday and Friday bleed into one day? Then it’s like perhaps I need to fast all of Thursday too because I wonder if I eat meat late Thursday evening before my Thursday night/ Friday morning shift, if that’s wrong?
…
Also, do you folks just drink water on Friday or do you still drink tea / coffee / juice? …
…

It is** midnight to midnight** for both fast and abstinence. So you can eat you normal meal finishing before the start of Friday at midnight.

You can have all those drinks, I generally do not drink coffee but I have tea. Whole grains and vegetables help keep blood sugar levels down because they take longer to digest. Juices raise the blood sugar level quickly.

 

[pianistclare]

I joined the Roman Catholic Church last Easter. Guess I’ll get greater clarity from a Priest I know, who should be able to correct this. Perhaps it is just abstinence from Meat on Friday’s during Lent.

That seems to be more reasonable and may be what my Sponsor meant to say

When in doubt, go to www.usccb.org for U.S. requirements.
God bless. When one has extraordinary circumstances, one does the best they can within the parameters of their particular situation. Your priest can advise you, Welcome home!
Clare

 

[1ke]

The requirement is to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That is the universal norm in Canon Law. The other Fridays of Lent are simply abstaining from meat.

The day runs from midnight to midnight on Friday. You have no need to alter anything you do, schedule-wise.

If you have diabetes or other medical conditions, you are excused from fasting.

So, please don’t put burdens on yourself that the Church does not.

 

[SjMelnychuk]

The requirement is to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That is the universal norm in Canon Law. The other Fridays of Lent are simply abstaining from meat.

The day runs from midnight to midnight on Friday. You have no need to alter anything you do, schedule-wise.

If you have diabetes or other medical conditions, you are excused from fasting.

So, please don’t put burdens on yourself that the Church does not.

I’m not burdening myself. I’m interested in what others do. It’s also a good discipline to have but if I’m sleeping through the day then maybe others so I was interested in what others do. Not as a means to burden but rather for conversation and to see what others do. Perfect time being that we’re in Lenten Season

 

[thistle]

I was told every Friday during Lent Season not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

You are confusing fasting and abstinence. They are two different things. Fasting, which is only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, is about cutting down on the quantity of food consumed on those two days.
Abstaining, which is required on all Fridays in Lent simply means not eating meat. It does not mean cutting down on the quantity of food consumed on those days, albeit you may voluntarily do so if you wish.

 

[Vico]

I’m not burdening myself. I’m interested in what others do. It’s also a good discipline to have but if I’m sleeping through the day then maybe others so I was interested in what others do. Not as a means to burden but rather for conversation and to see what others do. Perfect time being that we’re in Lenten Season

Latin Canon law:**CHAPTER II.

Days of Penance**

**Can. 1249 **The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

**Can. 1250 **The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

**Can. 1251 **Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

**Can. 1252 **The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

 

[SjMelnychuk]

You are confusing fasting and abstinence. They are two different things. Fasting, which is only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, is about cutting down on the quantity of food consumed on those two days.
Abstaining, which is required on all Fridays in Lent simply means not eating meat. It does not mean cutting down on the quantity of food consumed on those days, albeit you may voluntarily do so if you wish.

No I’m not confusing the two. I know the difference.

Again, here’s the context to this thread

For those who spend Friday sleeping abstaining from meat during Lenten Season…

When people sleep they aren’t eating any food let alone abstaing from meat. Days are a little different. Wednesday becomes Thursday which becomes Friday. If I abstain from meat would people suggest abstaining from meat either on Thursday or Saturday?

I read someone abstains from meat starting Friday evening and continue on Saturday.

For those who sleep away Friday …how do you abstain from meat on Friday? Or do you simply not observe this? There has to be others that are face similar experiences.

This isn’t a matter of what I should do but I would like to hear from others to see what they do.

If you think I’m confusing the two please go back and read what I posted because that’s not what I’m saying.

Can anyone share with me what they do in a similar circumstance?

 

[Vico]

No I’m not confusing the two. I know the difference.

Again, here’s the context to this thread

For those who spend Friday sleeping abstaining from meat during Lenten Season…

When people sleep they aren’t eating any food let alone abstaing from meat. Days are a little different. Wednesday becomes Thursday which becomes Friday. If I abstain from meat would people suggest abstaining from meat either on Thursday or Saturday?

I read someone abstains from meat starting Friday evening and continue on Saturday.

For those who sleep away Friday …how do you abstain from meat on Friday? Or do you simply not observe this? There has to be others that are face similar experiences.

This isn’t a matter of what I should do but I would like to hear from others to see what they do.

If you think I’m confusing the two please go back and read what I posted because that’s not what I’m saying.

Can anyone share with me what they do in a similar circumstance?

I abstain and fast (as the case may be) midnight to midnight Friday no matter what my schedule.

 

[SjMelnychuk]

I don’t expect people who work a regular 9-5 job or those who don’t for whatever reason don’t work to understand the context.

Typically people wake up Friday morning while I go to bed Friday morning. My days are messed up.

I wake up at around 1900 hrs (7pm) and then go to bed the following morning before 12noon.

The options:

Start my Friday on Thursday evening or extend my Friday into Saturday or just simply sleep my Friday away and while people eat their first meal Friday morning my first meal is Thursday evening so do others in a similar experience abstain from meat Thursday evening? Because if you take a closer look it could be argued that the individuals Friday actually begins Thursday evening.