Fast days: What constitutes a full meal?

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DaveBj

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My wife and I are both long past the age where we have to be concerned about the Ash-Wednesday / Good-Friday fasts, but I’m still curious about something. I understand that the fast consists of one full meal and two light meals that together do not make up a full meal, and no snacking between meals. But what constitutes a “full meal”?

According to my wife, a “full meal” is soup-or-salad, then meat plus starch (potatoes, rice, whatever), and two veg dishes, then dessert. Oh, and a drink. For me, it’s more like whatever fills me up, and that can be as simple as a Micky D’s fishwich, medium fries, and a Coke. In all my Catholic reading, I’ve never run across an official definition of “full meal” within this context. What am I missing?

D
 
There have been a few threads on this throughout Lent.

Basically, a full meal is a meal similar to what you would normally eat as your main meal. Not a feast, not a skimpy meal. Just your average meal.

Not fair to game the system and eat 2 other really big meals so you can eat the one HUGE meal.

Also not fair to cheat yourself and eat one jelly bean for breakfast, one jelly bean for lunch so that you eat 2 or 3 jelly beans for dinner.
 
Eating meat is not allowed on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. But it is allowed if you’re fasting on other days, other than Fridays of Lent.
 
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Would probably depend on the person, their living/work situation and their own constitution.
Like Kei said already, the full meal would be whatever fills a person up. The two light meals leave one still feeling a little hungry maybe, but at least would keep his/her strength up during the day.

But if you’d like an example menu: maybe a slice or two of toast or a cup of yogurt at breakfast. Lunch could be a small bit of salad or a cup of meat-free soup. No solid food between meals, but you can have a little milk or juice if there’s too much grumbly in the tumbly. A full meal would be the amount of food we would normally eat at one meal, just no meat on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.

Needless to say, scarfing down half the buffet at Golden Corral might be a faux pas.
 
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Back in the day, moral theology manuals/canon law commentaries would have weights and measures for what a person could eat on a fast day. I could probably look one up if anyone wanted such information.

Dan
 
EthelG said:
Like Kei said already, the full meal would be whatever fills a person up.
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That’s what I would have been going with, if the fast had been applying to me. I don’t really eat all that much to begin with; Golden Corral makes a profit off me.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

D
 
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