Abstinence on Sundays during Lent

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sedonaman said:
There is no fish symbol on any of the Sundays of Lent* on my Catholic calendar. Of course that’s a strong, objective symbol, but I suppose someone could make it subjective.

*Lent: A period of time beginning with Ash Wednesday and extending to some subjective length according to personal preference.
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Took that comment off, kind of beating a dead horse now.

What about abstaining on Sunday???🤷
 
sedonaman said:
Everyone has his own truth. What’s true for you is not necessarily true for me.
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Even before Vatican II we NEVER abstained from meat on Sundays during Lent, but we did keep our Lenten resolutions all the way through Holy Saturday. Now, I think you could forego them on the feasts of St. Joseph and the Annunciation and maybe even St. Patrick’s Day, but the feasts (like the Annunciation) should be a solemnity of the Church.

And I never heard of Lent ending on Holy Thursday! Good Friday after all is the day the Jesus died and that is a day of fasting and abstinence.

For me, Lent Ends on Easter Sunday, if its 40 days or over 40 days, Sundays have always still been a day where I keep my Lenten resolutions, but I think its up to the individual. I do though (all the year) try and read Scripture that day or read a religious book.
 
utah_rose said:
Even before Vatican II we NEVER abstained from meat on Sundays during Lent, but we did keep our Lenten resolutions all the way through Holy Saturday. Now, I think you could forego them on the feasts of St. Joseph and the Annunciation and maybe even St. Patrick’s Day, but the feasts (like the Annunciation) should be a solemnity of the Church.

And I never heard of Lent ending on Holy Thursday! Good Friday after all is the day the Jesus died and that is a day of fasting and abstinence.

For me, Lent Ends on Easter Sunday, if its 40 days or over 40 days, Sundays have always still been a day where I keep my Lenten resolutions, but I think its up to the individual. I do though (all the year) try and read Scripture that day or read a religious book.
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By saying Lent ends on Holy Thursday is not saying you’re done with fasting. Tridduum is its own liturgical season, with even more intense fasting.
 
agapewolf said:
By saying Lent ends on Holy Thursday is not saying you’re done with fasting. Tridduum is its own liturgical season, with even more intense fasting.
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👍 Exactly, it’s not party time when Mass starts on Holy Thursday. Jesus asks us to spend time with Him in the Garden, then walk with Him on His way to Cavalry, then miss Him as He lays in the tomb, there is no more solemn a time during the year.

Then we rejoice in His resurrection…AL…sorry, can’t say the “A” word…I got carried away there…😃
 
This thread is enough to make my head explode. Time to ask an Apologist. I’ll post a link to this thread and see if one of them responds.

Peace, g.
 
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=101317

So I was about to post my question in the Ask and Apologist section when I noticed that a similar question had already been asked. The link above is a response to the question that itself links to an article that provides that Lent is actually 44 DAYS LONG.

Guess what, the Sundays of Lent are actually in LENT.

Peace, g.
 
Tighty_Whitey said:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=101317

So I was about to post my question in the Ask and Apologist section when I noticed that a similar question had already been asked. The link above is a response to the question that itself links to an article that provides that Lent is actually 44 DAYS LONG.

Guess what, the Sundays of Lent are actually in LENT.

Peace, g.
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At least according to Jimmy Akin.

Again;
The Church says: prayer, fasting and giving alms. It then goes on to tell us to abstain (fast) from meat on Fridays during lent and to fast (from meat and generally) on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
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So if you want to “give up” something, do it for however you like. Include Sundays, don’t include Sundays, it is up to you.
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sedonaman said:
A wrestler was once asked, “Is professional wrestling real?” He replied, “What do you mean by ‘real’?” I think we are working with at least two different meanings for “Lent” – one conservative and one liberal. There are those who want to make it up to suit themselves and others who can count the days. Unless there is a new rule [always a possibility with those who prefer relativism], 40=40 the last time I checked. Does scripture say the ancient Hebrews spent “approximately” 40 years in the wilderness? Does scripture say Jesus spent “approximately” 40 days fasting in the desert? Did he really “fast” and was it really a “desert”? Then again, if you begin counting from sundown [the beginning of the Hebrew day] to Sunday morning, the Passion/Resurrection wasn’t three days; it was only 2 plus a fraction.
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Your “40=40” reasoning doesn’t change the fact that Lent is not exactly forty days. Do the math and see for yourself: Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends when the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening begins. That’s not forty days.

Nor does taking out the Sundays (which, by the way, are a part of Lent; that’s why the Gloria and “Alleluia” are omitted) help, since those aren’t the only days of celebration: March 19 and March 25 are solemnities.

You can’t get exactly 40 days of penance no matter how you count it. As other posters have explained, 40 is an important symbolic number.
sedonaman said:
According to my spreadsheet:

April 8, 2012 [Easter Sunday] minus February 22, 2012 [Ash Wednesday] +1 [to make it inclusive] equals 47. Subtract the 7 Sundays [incl. Easter Sunday] and you get 40.

– A humble layman.
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Nope, that makes the Solemnities of St. Joseph and the Annunciation days of penance as well, but they’re not. They’re solemnities. If those days (3/19 and 3/25) fall on a Friday of Lent, the obligation to abstain from meat is even lifted.

Besides, Lent ends when the Mass of the Lord’s Supper begins on Holy Thursday. The Triduum is its own liturgical season.

As another poster said:

“Lent is 40-ish days. Get used to it. Sundays are part of Lent (but are days inappropriate to fast). Get used to it.”
sedonaman said:
You don’t have to subtract the Sundays “to make the 40 work;” it’s mathematical proof that Lent is 40 days. Get use to it.
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You can’t deny math, sedonaman. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. It ends Holy Thursday evening, when the Mass of the Lord’s Supper begins. Even if you subtract Sundays (which there’s no reason to do; they’re part of Lent), you still don’t get 40 days but rather fewer than 40 days.

Try it and see for yourself.

“40” is a highly significant symbolic number in the Bible, and thus Lent is approximately 40 days.
 
sedonaman said:
AThere are those who want to make it up to suit themselves and others who can count the days. Unless there is a new rule [always a possibility with those who prefer relativism], 40=40 the last time I checked. Does scripture say the ancient Hebrews spent “approximately” 40 years in the wilderness? Does scripture say Jesus spent “approximately” 40 days fasting in the desert?
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Now that you mention it . . . It’s your “40=40” that is the new rule: you’re looking at first century Palestine through a twentieth century lense.

Today, when we say 40, we mean one more than 39 and one less than 41. Then and there, 40 was used for large amounts, much as we’re not literal when we say “million” (or even thousand).

AFAIK, the only 40 day period in any of the apostolic churches that is actually 40 das is St. Phillip’s fast, the 40 day period starting his feast day, November 15, leading to the feast of the Nativity. It is still a fasting period in the Christian East; in the West it has been superseded by the shorter Advent.
AMDG

hawk
 
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