Abstinence on Sundays during Lent

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felsguy said:
Since leap year adds a day to the month of February and not an eighth day to any week of Lent, I don’t believe it would change the count. 😉 Still doesn’t answer how to enumerate the forty days though.
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Thanks for pointing that out, I believe i was thinking to much…long day at work…😃
 
Liturgical seasons are ebb and flow, and even within the liturgical season there is ebb and flow.

Matthew 9:15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

It’s actually contradictory to the day to do penance on Sundays/solemnties.

I find it so amazing even within a sacrificial season, there is celebrating. There are 1-2 solemnities that happen during the Lent season, also. When these fall on Friday, there is no need to abstain from meat either.

Same with the first friday after easter and Christmas… these are also solemnities, and your personal Friday sacrifice need not happen here either.

St Teresa of Avila : “When I fast, I fast, and when I eat partridge, I eat partridge”.
 
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this but Jimmy Akin addresses a lot of these Lenten questions in his blog.
 
SMHW is correct according to my Priest. We had a bit of a disagreement with this question since there is so much misinformation on the subject. He said Lent is not meant to be a literal 40 days.
 
Anna_Claire said:
Its up to us to figure that out! There are some things that don’t need a pronouncement from the church. We are expected to fast,abstain, pray and help the poor during Lent. It’s a time of repentance and soul searching. The church gives us the guidelines and a few rules. What we do with that is totally up to us as mature thinking adults. That’s a good thing. We’re not programmed robots.
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I agree, we are adults , and not robots. We shouldn’t do things because we are told to, but because we want to.
 
Lapey said:
Sorry sedonaman, but you need to count days.

Lent 2012- To go by your premise that Holy Saturday Mass ends Lent, and subtract Sundays, Lent would be 39 days and 19 hours (assuming a 7 PM Mass time)
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But hey, this is only the thoughts of a humble deacon.🙂

Peace, Dcn. Gary
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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.
 
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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But Lent does not end on Easter Sunday. It ends at the beginning of Mass on Maundy Thursday. Sundays are part of Lent. Nothing subjective, it is what it is.

But again, as for the OP’s question, there is no required fast or abstinence for Sundays in Lent; so except for voluntary penance, what does it matter?
 
SMHW said:
When I was a child we always considered Sundays as part of Lent and days that we had to stick to our Lenten resolutions. I think that was the usually pre-Vatican II view of things. …
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Didn’t you ever pick up Catholic calendars from your church? They had all the days of fast and abstinence. They still do. [As a side note, the Christmas Vigil in those days was a day of abstinence as well.]
 
Lent is 40-*ish *days. Get used to it.

Sundays are part of Lent (but are days inappropriate to fast). Get used to it.

*Giving up something for Lent *is a private devotion. You may bind or loose yourself as you wish. Get used to it.

For those who insist that you have to subtract the Sundays to make the 40 work, riddle me this: Don’t you have to subtract the Solemnities of St Joseph (always between Ash Wednesday and Easter) and the Annunciation (often) too? Shouldn’t this cause Lent to start on *“Ash Tuesday” *or “Ash Monday”? :ehh:

tee
 
The problem is that some people are counting days to know how long to give up their soda or caffeine or chocolate or CAF.

The Church never tells you to give up any of those things. Those are a personal devotion. Give up what you want for as long as you want. It is up to you. I remember someone telling me that when my (under the age of reason) child gave up something different each week of Lent that he wasn’t doing it right. :rolleyes:

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.

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.
 
tee_eff_em said:
Lent is 40-*ish *days. Get used to it.
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Suppose you agreed to work for $1,000, and your boss paid you $900 and told you it was $1,000-ish and to “get use to it”?
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For those who insist that you have to subtract the Sundays to make the 40 work, riddle me this: Don’t you have to subtract the Solemnities of St Joseph (always between Ash Wednesday and Easter) and the Annunciation (often) too? Shouldn’t this cause Lent to start on *“Ash Tuesday” *or “Ash Monday”?
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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.

You do not subtract solemnity days unless they fell on a Sunday. Get use to it.
 
I’d like to be directed to an official document of the Church that says Lent is 40 days. I know of hymns and devotional material that say so. I know Lent is called quadragesima. I also know the General Norms for the Liturgical Year say: “# 28. Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive.” scborromeo.org/litcal.htm
 
sedonaman said:
You don’t have to subtract the Sundays “to make the 40 work;” it’s mathematical proof that Lent is 40 days.
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If true, that in turn can be used as proof that Sundays are not part of Lent, and that the Triduum is, contrary to what the Church says.
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sedonaman:
Get use to it.
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While we’re nitpicking, I would like to point out that it should really be “used to” with the past tense of “use,” just as one would say “Get excited about it” or “Get prepared for it.”
 
sedonaman said:
Suppose you agreed to work for $40, and your boss paid you $40-ish and told you to “get use to it”?

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.

You do not subtract solemnity days unless they fell on a Sunday. Get use to it.
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I know, I said I was done…one more try…😃

That’s not right; a solemnity which falls on a Friday in Lent replaces that Lenten requirement; canon 1251. If it falls on any other day, it’s just a solemnity which is celebrated as usual; if it falls on Sunday it replaces the Sunday Liturgy, unless it is commuted to another designated day for certain reasons. This year the Annunciation Of Jesus is March 25th, which is the 5th Sunday of Lent. It will be celebrated on Monday, March 26th. If St. Joseph’s day, March 19th, falls on Friday of Lent eat all the meat you want, on the other hand, you can choose to follow lent anyway. And your analogy is weak, apples and oranges.

If you do the research you will see many different Lenten traditions, ranging from 8 weeks, minus the Saturdays & Sundays, to six weeks with 40 days of actual fasting required within that time, and many other variations. If you do the reading you will be able to follow the changes in the “requirements” of the Lenten fast through the years to where we are now.

And as I mentioned already as others have as well, anything other than Ash Wed and Good Friday abstaining and fasting, and other Fridays abstaining, it is personal choice here in the Diocese of the USA. So if one chooses to give up candy and skip Sundays, more power to you, if you choose to keep the penance on Sunday, so be it.

If you want to be that legalistic to say Lent is exactly 40 days, then so be it.

You still haven’t addressed the OP’s original question, what’s your opinion there? Is there a required fast or not on Sundays in Lent? (I know, this is a trick question…lol)
 
Digitonomy said:
If true, that in turn can be used as proof that Sundays are not part of Lent, and that the Triduum is, contrary to what the Church says.
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How so?
While we’re nitpicking, I would like to point out that it should really be “used to” with the past tense of “use,” just as one would say “Get excited about it” or “Get prepared for it.”
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Thx for the reminder. I notice that it doesn’t say, “Get excited-ish about it” or “Get prepared-ish for it.”
 
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