Fasting - Obligation and guidelines

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Margaret_Ann

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I am Ukrainian Greek Catholic and try to keep the traditional fasts like my RO cousins. I’ve noticed that fish like salmon, tuna are not appropriate for days of fast yet shellfish are allowed. Why?

Also, WHEN does the obligation to fast start? The liturgical day begins with Vespers and ends with the Ninth Hour but the civil day is from midnight to midnight. Example: If I have a steak Thursday night, liturgically it’s Friday already. Am I breaking the Friday abstinence?

P.S. True trivia tidbit: Roman Catholics are still bound to Friday abstinence. 😉 Google “Pope Paul VI Friday abstinence” and the 1966 decree on fasting will pop up. Really interesting.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
P.S. True trivia tidbit: Roman Catholics are still bound to Friday abstinence. 😉 Google “Pope Paul VI Friday abstinence” and the 1966 decree on fasting will pop up. Really interesting.
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There’s actually a whole thread going right now on RC abstinence with a lengthy explanation from Jimmy Akin on why RCs are not bound to abstinence. It is an optional penance that the Church encourages, but it’s certainly not binding.
 
You can read the discussion here and discuss on that thread if you want to talk about RC abstinence.
In the USA we haven’t had mandatory Friday abstinence except during Lent, for about 50 years at least.
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Fridays---no meat Spirituality
I rarely go a day without meat. Just putting that out there. Actually, it has. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/is-friday-penance-required And a further defense of the CA mag says http://jimmyakin.com/2004/07/more_on_friday_.html
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I’m looking more for help on UGCC/Byzantine fasting guidelines. I just mentioned the decree of Pope Paul VI as a “trivia tidbit”. Surprise your friends!
 
I know you just noted it as a tidbit and I don’t want to derail your thread, but you presented incorrect info about RC abstinence requirements and I corrected it. I will now leave the thread to you and your main topic.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
I’m looking more for help on UGCC/Byzantine fasting guidelines
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I am also interested in this. At the local Byzantine Catholic Church, the priest said that for the month of June, the Peter and Paul fast would be to abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, but fish and dairy are allowed. I think that the Orthodox tradition is much more severe than the Byzantine Catholic practice, at least in the USA. However, I have not seen any Byzantine Catholic written document either official or in the church bulletin which gives the Byzantine Catholic rules for the Apostles’ ( Peter and Paul) fast.
 
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Margaret_Ann said:
I am Ukrainian Greek Catholic and try to keep the traditional fasts like my RO cousins. I’ve noticed that fish like salmon, tuna are not appropriate for days of fast yet shellfish are allowed. Why?

Also, WHEN does the obligation to fast start? The liturgical day begins with Vespers and ends with the Ninth Hour but the civil day is from midnight to midnight. Example: If I have a steak Thursday night, liturgically it’s Friday already. Am I breaking the Friday abstinence?

P.S. True trivia tidbit: Roman Catholics are still bound to Friday abstinence. 😉 Google “Pope Paul VI Friday abstinence” and the 1966 decree on fasting will pop up. Really interesting.
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The fish with backbones are abstained from.

Fasting is midnight to midnight. Even in the Communion fast, which practiced traditionally, is from bedtime or at least from midnight.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae > Second Part of the Second Part > Question 147 > Article 8
I answer that, As stated above (Article 6), fasting was instituted by the Church in order to bridle the concupiscences of the flesh, which regard pleasures of touch in connection with food and sex. Wherefore the Church forbade those who fast to partake of those foods which both afford most pleasure to the palate, and besides are a very great incentive to lust. Such are the flesh of animals that take their rest on the earth, and of those that breathe the air and their products, such as milk from those that walk on the earth, and eggs from birds. For, since such like animals are more like man in body, they afford greater pleasure as food, and greater nourishment to the human body, so that from their consumption there results a greater surplus available for seminal matter, which when abundant becomes a great incentive to lust. Hence the Church has bidden those who fast to abstain especially from these foods.
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http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3147.htm#article8
 
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The best day to fast - is Friday - it seems to me.
The last day of the work week celebration !
And to start the weekend off - on a Holy note -
It’s like recharging my batteries -
as the Holy Spirit - leads the way - in a direction to explore !
 
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i think even the Orthodox here in the USA are pretty relaxed depending on the jurisdiction…for example, our local Greek Orthodox church is currently having their annual Greek Fest right now and they serve meat and dairy at it. (It’s always during the Apostles’ Fast too).

In this day and age there are lots of things to fast from besides food also…technology and entertainment. Fasting should always be done under the guidance of a spiritual father/mother.
 
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You don’t fast from - technology.

That’s a stupid modern term for all of today’s lukewarm believers.

Maybe temperance- from technology - yes.

 
Uh, yeah you can certainly fast from it…there’s nothing wrong with old school some times
 
I’m not sure. I do think that for the Nativity fast they only 2 maybe 2 weeks.
 
The Orthodox parish near me published the the entire set of regulations re the Apostles’ Fast but don’t specify what kinds of fish are and are not allowed.
 
I think the Byzantine & Melkite Catholic Churches have the Nativity Fast for 2 weeks but in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church the Nativity Fast is the traditional 40 days.
 
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