Does drinking tea with sugar break the fast?

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Hermione

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Hello everyone,

Does drinking mint tea with sugar in it count as one of the two permissible snacks?

Thanks! 🙂
 
there are no permissible snacks (except maybe on Weight Watchers) but liquids do not break the fast anyhow.
 
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puzzleannie:
there are no permissible snacks (except maybe on Weight Watchers) but liquids do not break the fast anyhow.
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well that’s good to know as I’m sitting here drinking my sweetened morning tea…
 
Dear Hermione,

You can have two small meals today–is that what you meant by “snacks”?

I don’t have an official answer but the way I see it is this–regarding the 1 hour fast before Mass, unless we are ill or are required to eat something for some reason, we are allowed only water and/or medicine. I apply that same guideline to days of fasting. So, strictly speaking, tea (with or without sugar) is not water…the same is true for coffee.

This is just how I do it, though…and I tend to be quite strict about these things.
 
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Hermione:
Hello everyone,

Does drinking mint tea with sugar in it count as one of the two permissible snacks?

Thanks! 🙂
Click to expand...
  • What??? We get TWO SNACKS?!?* :dancing:
 
Every time I see OCD, Satan breaks into my train of though, I think Obsessive Compulsive Disorder…

Order of Carmelite Disclaced. Had to look it up. TWICE. DUHHH
 
“Ordinary liquids” do not break the fast. This is the general rule.
Coffee is an ordinary liquid (i.e. not considered food).
 
drforjc said:
“Ordinary liquids” do not break the fast. This is the general rule.
Coffee is an ordinary liquid (i.e. not considered food).
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Nor is it considered “water” – as in what you are allowed to drink during the hour before Mass. Just thought I would throw that in.
 
I’d never heard of the term “ordinary liquid” before. Who coined that term? Who defined it? When?
 
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mercygate:
Nor is it considered “water” – as in what you are allowed to drink during the hour before Mass. Just thought I would throw that in.
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Very interesting you mention this. Today I had to attend Mass 2 hrs before I normally do (6:30 am) and found myself mindlessly drinking coffee at 6. Needless to say I didn’t present myself for communion today.
 
Bro. Dan,
hopefully, I’m being clear-- this is in regards to the Lenten fast, not the Eucharistic fast which has different requirements.
From EWTN:
The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk). Alcoholic beverages do not break the fast; however, they seem to be contrary to the spirit of doing penance.
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I don’t know the exact origin of the term “ordinary liquid” but have come across it often in this context.
 
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drforjc:
Bro. Dan,
hopefully, I’m being clear-- this is in regards to the Lenten fast, not the Eucharistic fast which has different requirements.
From EWTN:

I don’t know the exact origin of the term “ordinary liquid” but have come across it often in this context.
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Thanks. You learn something everyday. I’ll probably stick to my own strict interpretation, though, since i’m young and healthy and have no reason to eat or drink ordinary or extraordinary liquids. 🙂
 
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mtr01:
Very interesting you mention this. Today I had to attend Mass 2 hrs before I normally do (6:30 am) and found myself mindlessly drinking coffee at 6. Needless to say I didn’t present myself for communion today.
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Why wouldn’t you present yourself for Communion. Wasn’t your drinking coffee in this circumstance an honest mistake? My first inclination is that receiving the Eucharist is far too important to deny myself it for truly forgetting it.

Now, if you intentionally scorn the rule. . . that’s a different matter.
 
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Prometheum_x:
Why wouldn’t you present yourself for Communion. Wasn’t your drinking coffee in this circumstance an honest mistake? My first inclination is that receiving the Eucharist is far too important to deny myself it for truly forgetting it.

Now, if you intentionally scorn the rule. . . that’s a different matter.
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I can’t explain it in a rational way, it was more of an internal feeling. It wasn’t like I drank it, didn’t think about it, then received communion, only to realize my mistake it later (I wouldn’t have been worried over that honest mistake). Once I was aware of what I was doing, I debated within myself, and decided, for me, it was probably best I didn’t receive, and just make an act of spiritual communion. I also won’t rule out the possibility that on some level I deliberately chose this option so that I could finish the mug. 😦
 
Please be informed that sugar (sucrose, fructose, dextrose, et. al.) is a carbohydrate
and therefore a food, which stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes. Sugar (in the
form of dextrose) is also contained in those Sweet 'n Low and Equal packets. Even
unsweetened tea and coffee have traces of carbohydrate in them, whereas PLAIN
water does NOT.

Hence, tea, coffee, and even water that is sweetened with sugar, Sweet 'n Low or
Equal or even Splenda is definitely a food, albeit a liquified one.

Frank
 
Just an add-on though to my previous post…

I trust that everyone will agree that the primal purpose
of fasting is one of sacrifice, by way of surpressing our
instinctive cravings for food and nutrition.

Since sugar is a nutritional carbohydrate, which upon
digestion and absorption raises the blood sugar level
and elevates the body’s metabolism, and thereby acts
to allieviate our cravings for food and the discomfort
of hunger, it serves to lessen our sacrifice.

Plain water, on the other hand, is devoid of calories
(carbohydrate or otherwise) and does not allieviate
hunger. It serves only to keep the tissues hydrated
and the blood volume in bounds.

For me, it’s plain water or no communion.

Frank
 
Couldn’t even drink water after midnight before communion when I was a kid.
 
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mtr01:
Very interesting you mention this. Today I had to attend Mass 2 hrs before I normally do (6:30 am) and found myself mindlessly drinking coffee at 6. Needless to say I didn’t present myself for communion today.
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Was communion distributed at the beginning of Mass? In this instance, since you didn’t mean to drink your coffee 1/2 hour before Mass, it seems that you could probably have recieved, since even in shorter Masses communion is not usually presented until at least 1/2 hour in - making it technically an hour before receiving that you drank your coffee. I don’t mean to be legalistic - just saying that many people consciously interpret the rule this way, so in your case since it was an honest mistake, you might have been okay. ??? Just a thought.
 
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