Fasting lent rules explained?

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Christianbook

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So I am fasting traditions of lent. I know fasting you must do on good friday and ash Wednesday. But during lent. Is it true that you need to fast for 40 days excluding Saturday and Sunday? I also heard that that isnt true that you should only fast ash Wednesday and good Friday. I also hear you must fast until lent is over 46 days as Jesus did. I also heard you must fast 40 days excluding Sundays. What is the actual tradition? If I could fast for 49 day thatd be great. Im just so confused. I know we shouldn’t eat meat on Fridays. But the fasting part is so confusing.
 
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Hello,
You’ve posted this on the Eastern Catholicism forum. Can you first tell us what Church or “rite” you belong to such as Byzantine, Maronite, etc?
 
Nooo wrong thing. Im sorry. Thanks for telling me. Update:changed it. Thanks. Idk what that all means. Im just Catholic-Christian.
 
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In the Latin Rite Church, actual fasting is only obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Often one might pick something specific to “fast” from during Lent, like candy or tv.
 
Christianbook said:
Idk what that all means. Im just Catholic-Christian.
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The Catholic Church is made up of the Latin Church plus 23 other Churches.

I’m going to assume you are a Latin Catholic. The regulations for the Latin Church are:

Every person 14 years or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent.

Every person between the age of 18 and 59 (beginning of 60th year) must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

From the USCCB:
Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women. In all cases, common sense should prevail, and ill persons should not further jeopardize their health by fasting.

Also traditionally manual laborers are according to need.
 
Oh! thank you. Also, I didnt know that about the churches. Could you direct me to a website that could explain to me what the differences are and what each of them are?
 
Christianbook said:
So I am fasting traditions of lent. I know fasting you must do on good friday and ash Wednesday. But during lent. Is it true that you need to fast for 40 days excluding Saturday and Sunday? I also heard that that isnt true that you should only fast ash Wednesday and good Friday. I also hear you must fast until lent is over 46 days as Jesus did. I also heard you must fast 40 days excluding Sundays. What is the actual tradition? If I could fast for 49 day thatd be great. Im just so confused. I know we shouldn’t eat meat on Fridays. But the fasting part is so confusing.
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USCCB web site states:
Q. Why do we say that there are forty days of Lent? When you count all the days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, there are 46.
A. It might be more accurate to say that there is the “forty day fast within Lent.” Historically, Lent has varied from a week to three weeks to the present configuration of 46 days. The forty day fast, however, has been more stable. The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence.

Q. So does that mean that when we give something up for Lent, such as candy, we can have it on Sundays?
A. Apart from the prescribed days of fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and the days of abstinence every Friday of Lent, Catholics have traditionally chosen additional penitential practices for the whole Time of Lent. These practices are disciplinary in nature and often more effective if they are continuous, i.e., kept on Sundays as well. That being said, such practices are not regulated by the Church, but by individual conscience.
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http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/questions-and-answers-about-lent.cfm
 
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1ke did a good job of explaining what is required of Catholics with regards to fasting.

It is easy to get confused because you will see and hear many Catholics speak of “fasting” in regards to “giving stuff up” for Lent. It is pious tradition for Catholic to give something up as a form of penance during the Lenten season. That might mean giving up chocolate, giving up social media, giving up soda pop, etc.

Some people who choose to give things up during Lent will opt to forgo their penance on Sundays. As these voluntary additional penances are not mandated by canon law nor regulated by the Church hierarchy, it’s really up to the individual as to whether or not you want to do that. If you really wanted to, you could choose to give up macaroni & cheese on every third Tuesday from 3pm–6pm. It’s completely up to the individual.

You see a lot of Catholics on the internet who assert their preferences as though it were magisterial teaching. Ultimately, we are bound by what 1ke outlined above.

I generally encourage people to pray and reflect on something to do in terms of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In other words, choose some extra prayers, something extra to give up, and some extra act of charity and do these consistently throughout Lent. This is not mandatory, but is just a good spiritual discipline to undertake during Lent. If you decide to give yourself a reprieve on Sundays, that’s up to you.
 
The thing you “give up” is to be a good thing. Giving up sin is something we need to do every day! For lent we sacrifice something good (like coffee or chocolate or novels or Facebook) in order to show our Love for God!
 
Christianbook said:
Could you direct me to a website that could explain to me what the differences are and what each of them are?
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There is the Eastern Catholicism forum on this site.

For further in depth, try byzcath.org, both the resources and the forums.

(and don’t be bothered by “how many”–it’s about two dozen, but it can depend upon how you count, whether one is extinct as suspected, and, of course, the new one the Pope raised a few years ago . . .)
 
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