Fasting - bread and water only?

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I heard a person say that during a day of fasting that one should only take bread and water during the day, or that bread and water were the only acceptable things to ingest outside of the one main meal.

Where does this belief come from? I can’t find a basis for it anywhere. The person that stated this to me is a supposedly very pious person.
 
Fasting is good for the body, mind and soul. However, there is nothing that says you must kill yourself while doing it.
 
JIB said:
I heard a person say that during a day of fasting that one should only take bread and water during the day, or that bread and water were the only acceptable things to ingest outside of the one main meal.

Where does this belief come from? I can’t find a basis for it anywhere. The person that stated this to me is a supposedly very pious person.
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This is a personal devotion. It is not a requirement of the Church.

So, anyone who says that it is the “only acceptable” way to fast is incorrect.
 
JIB said:
I heard a person say that during a day of fasting that one should only take bread and water during the day, or that bread and water were the only acceptable things to ingest outside of the one main meal.

Where does this belief come from? I can’t find a basis for it anywhere. The person that stated this to me is a supposedly very pious person.
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That is terribly incorrect. That person is ridiculously misinformed, not pious. Besides, it is physically impossible for anyone, regardless of who they are, to do that and stay healthy.
 
Bread and water only during lent is exactly what my grandparents used to do in Europe (Dalmatia, Croatia). This was during WW2 and earlier years. Nowadays, it’s different. It’s more like here in the States.
 
I believe it was a request from our Blessed Mother at Medjugorje in an apparition on July 21, 1982. Since this isn’t yet approved by the Church, I’m hesitant to post a link but you could search it if you’d like.
 
Oh, that makes sense. So there’s no Church teaching on bread and water. Just something from a controversial Marian apparition.
 
It also has been a monastic practice for hundreds of years. Many people do it as a personal penitential act, just as some people will only drink water on days of fasting.
 
The rules used to be for fasting and abstinence one main meal and two ‘collations’ of 2oz and 4oz or thereabouts. No red meat or soup or liquids containing the juices of red meat. In medieval England they had so many days of abstinence that the people looked for ways around it. And the beaver was reclassified as a fish because of its tail and was effectively wiped out. Bread and water has never been a tradition I have been aware of in UK or Ireland. With perhaps the exception of Good Friday when many people drank only water or black tea and possibly a small fish. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beaver_fish_tail.jpg#section_1
 
JIB said:
Oh, that makes sense. So there’s no Church teaching on bread and water.
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No, that is not quite accurate. It is not a requirement of the Church. Fasting on bread and water has a long tradition in Catholic spirituality. It is a personal devotion.
JIB said:
Just something from a controversial Marian apparition.
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Uh, no, it is not just “something” from a Marian apparition. Fasting on bread and water goes back to biblical times.

It is a very good spiritual discipline. And many people do so. Perhaps you should consider it, under spiritual direction of your priest. It is simply not required by the Church. That does not mean it has no spiritual benefit or should be dismissed so flippantly.
 
1ke said:
No, that is not quite accurate. It is not a requirement of the Church. Fasting on bread and water has a long tradition in Catholic spirituality. It is a personal devotion.

Uh, no, it is not just “something” from a Marian apparition. Fasting on bread and water goes back to biblical times.

It is a very good spiritual discipline. And many people do so. Perhaps you should consider it, under spiritual direction of your priest. It is simply not required by the Church. That does not mean it has no spiritual benefit or should be dismissed so flippantly.
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The issue is that I was instructed by a lay person that anything more than bread and water wasn’t a “real fast”. The implication is that it iys official teaching. I see that it is not.

I may well go the bread and water route next fast, but not because I’m misled to believe my normal fasting is inadequate.
 
Here is a link to the Lenten-specific Fast & Abstinence page from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
 
JIB said:
I heard a person say that during a day of fasting that one should only take bread and water during the day, or that bread and water were the only acceptable things to ingest outside of the one main meal.

Where does this belief come from? I can’t find a basis for it anywhere. The person that stated this to me is a supposedly very pious person.
Click to expand...
Precise details of fasting and abstinence tend to be defined by conferences of bishops and similar authorities but the strictest fasting expected of the general populace seems to be one meal solid enough to satisfy your hunger and two smaller meals not adding up to that one meal (or not exceeding it, I’m not really sure), which is the discipline for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That is fasting (which deals with quantity, while abstinence deals what foods or beverages aren’t taken).

On the other hand, bread and water are a traditional penitential discipline used by monastic communities or as a form of penance for sins or as a private mortification. It’s certainly not the “only right way” and not the strictest way, either.
 
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