Fasting and Abstinence... during Advent. When was the last time this was the case?

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No, I meant to Epiphany which is when the season ends. There are literally 25 feasts from the 1st Sunday of Advent to Epiphany.
 
I’m a bit confused then. Which season are we talking about here? Advent is distinct from the Christmas Season (Tempus Natalicium) and ends at 1st Vespers of the Christmas Vigil. The Christmas Season runs on through January 13th and, as far as I’m aware, has never been characterized by fast, abstinence, or really anything penitential for that matter. Also, how are we using “feast” here? As in the strict Solemnity/Feast/Memorial distinction or to mean anything that isn’t a feria?
 
Forgive me. I’m not communicating clearly. I have a head cold that is trying to get the best of me!

Yes, Advent is specifically the roughly four weeks leading up to Christmas. However, I think it makes sense to include the Christmas season (to Epiphany though there are a few different traditions regarding just how long Christmastide should be) in your planning. It gives the period from the 1st Sunday of Advent to Epiphany a much more cohesive feel. After all, there would be no advent if Christ had not been born. Indeed, St. Alphonsus has beautiful daily meditations for Advent and Christmas that really pull it all together.

Regarding the feasts. Of course you know that all saints have feasts though all these do not appear on the general calendar. In the period between the 1st Sunday of Advent and Epiphany, there are 25 feasts/Holy Days for very well known saints such as Sts. Andrew, Francis Xavier, Nicholas, Ambrose, Lucy, John of the Cross, Stephen, John, Thomas Becket, Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neumann, and more I won’t type out. And of course there are the feasts of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Holy Family, etc.

Being a mother with small children who is trying to bring the liturgical year into my home, I’m trying to figure out which of these days we will celebrate and how. That’s why I asked. I’m sorry for causing confusion. I think your plan to focus on HDOs is a good one.
 
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Ah! I see what you mean, and I agree. It’s a delicate balancing act trying to figure out how to simultaneously respect the penitential nature of a particular season while making allowances or otherwise relaxing your penance to an extent when a saint’s feast (no matter what class or rank of celebration) occurs during that time. I know a lot of Catholics today use the Solemnity as the benchmark: they’ll completely refrain from any and all penance if the day is a Solemnity, and perhaps relax but not completely do away with it if the day is a Feast or particular Memorial.

Before the change in the calendar the standard was that if a Holy Day of Obligation, not necessarily a 1st Class Feast (the 1960 analogue of a Solemnity) fell on a day normally set apart for fast or abstinence then the obligation was completely dispensed with. I’ve chosen to stick with this myself because I mostly assist at the Extraordinary Form and I pray the 1960 Office. If I were to use the newer standard it would result in some interesting consequences such as not fasting or abstaining on the Ember Days of Pentecost since they always fall during the Pentecost Octave, every day of which is 1st Class.

Feel better soon!
 
In the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, we have 40 days of preparation for the Nativity of Our Lord (Nov. 15 - Dec. 24). Technically it has an 8 day post-feast, but the Nativity season is also 40 days (Dec. 25 - Feb. 2), because we greet each other with “Christ is Born!” (Response: “Glorify Him!”) up to and including Feb. 2, the Presentation of Our Lord.
 
I’ll have to mention that to my pastor. I think he does the usual Sunday vestments but I don’t remember from last year.
 
Good question. I’m not certain why Mondays are included but in the Byzantine Tradition, Mondays are dedicated to the Holy Angels (whose big feast day is Nov. 8th on our calendar, not 9/29).
 
My Russian Orthodox cousins are in their 60s & 70s and still keep the traditional fasts (including the fast from midnight before receiving Holy Communion!).
 
Btw, in the UGCC we have strict fast and abstinence on Jan. 5 (vigil of Theophany/Epiphany). I forgot to mention it earlier.
 
Thank you! Gabriel is my son’s middle name (and his Chrismation name). 🙂
 
Those fasts are definitely not for the faint of heart that’s for sure lol!

I could probably manage the midnight fast ok but I do have coffee in the morning (with cream) a few hours before Liturgy. Maybe I’ll give that up for Nativity Fast this year. There’s no way I could do a vegan fast…I’ve tried it in the past and the blood sugar swings made me super cranky 😦 oh well, it is what it is.
 
As a traditional italian, we always abstained from meat on Fridays regardless of the season. In the coastal areas I have lived in this was quite plausible and healthy. My family still does this no matter how old any of us are. Customs appear to vary from nation to nation.
 
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