Fasting question

[Swamp_Yankee]

Hey y’all ! Im interested in fasting. Is there a particular " catholic recipe" for it? Ya know, is there one day better than another, what should be my mindset, any particular prayer I should say…? Any insights or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[LilyM]

The only advice is if you’re planning an extended or rigorous fast (more than a day or two) then make sure to get the all-clear from a doctor first, and talk to your confessor or spiritual director (there are spiritual dangers such as pride involved in rigorous penances like this).

 

[PhilotheaZ]

You should fast and abstain according to the laws of the Church: Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Fridays in Lent, Fridays throughout the year (in some places you can substitute another penitential or charitable act instead of abstaining from meat on Fridays outside Lent), Eucharistic fast (an hour before Communion).

Beyond that, fasting is permissible, but you need to be prudent about it. No excessive fasting from food should be done without permission from your spiritual director/confessor AND your medical doctor. (When I asked my spiritual director about this several years ago he gave me permission to fast any way I choose one day per week, nothing beyond that without his permission).

You can also fast from non-food items: from TV, internet, alcohol, tobacco; from criticizing others, from purchasing things you don’t need, from any little uncharitable acts that creep into our behavior …

 

[YADA]

The Didache has instructions on fasting …

Wednesdays and Fridays which it contrasts to the fast of the hypocrits [Mondays and Thursdays]

It is the same passage that contains the Lord’s Prayer with the doxology [preferred by portestants] that we hear at Mass

Chapter 8. Fasting and Prayer (the Lord’s Prayer). But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week. Rather, fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday). Do not pray like the hypocrites, but rather as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, like this: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily (needful) bread, and forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (or, evil); for Thine is the power and the glory for ever…
Pray this three times each day.

Many catholics fast on Wednesay and Friday … I did that for a year some time back … my intention was for peace … this was before 9/11 …

I’ve been thinking of doing it again …

I kept a traditional fast of small meal … but have been thinking if I do it again that I keep a stricter fast … that gets hard if you have to work strenuously … it is not fair to co-workers if you pass out, endangering yourself and others … so as with everything “common sense” and safety have to be applied …

 

[Swamp_Yankee]

Thank you all. Should I always approach a fast with intentions? Should a daylong fast begin and end at certain times ( sundown to sundown) ? Thank you again in advance.

 

[YADA]

Thank you all. Should I always approach a fast with intentions? Should a daylong fast begin and end at certain times ( sundown to sundown) ? Thank you again in advance.

I started and ended my fasts with the day that starts at sundown to sundown [sort of] … less with the actual sundown but 24 hours from after dinner on Thursday to after dinner on Friday … with no gorge out on Friday night

if you do midnight to midnight [which I started with] your fasts become over long … Dinner Thurdsay being your last meal … fast begins a midnight … no meals Friday … fast ends at midnight … meal on Saturday morning … essentially this makes you fast from Thursday evening until Saturday morning …

Fasting and Prayer are something you do for you … so you can set the rules … it is a spiritual exercise … denying one’s self … to say yes to God … do you need an intention … no … other than growing closer to our Lord … if you fail and break your fast … that is an opportunity to examine yourself and can be a point of growth …

In other words - this is something you do for your benefit in your relationship to God … try not to overanalyze it … set a goal and go for it … fast one day a month … or one day a week … once a quarter … you pick …

For example: Once a month I will “fast, go to confession, attend one daily mass, and spend 30 minutes extra in prayer” … Try it out, see what it does for your faith life after six months … this is just an example … you pick something … we exercise our bodies and our minds … this is exercise for the soul …

 

[Andruschak]

Hey y’all ! Im interested in fasting. Is there a particular " catholic recipe" for it? Ya know, is there one day better than another, what should be my mindset, any particular prayer I should say…? Any insights or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

First off…easy does it. Talk to your Physician, then with a spiritual director. Start off slow. Maybe just make every Friday (except Solemnities) a day of fasting. One moderate meal, and two smaller meals that do not, together, add up to the main meal. Friday has been a traditional year-round fasting day in many orders.

Make Friday also a day of Abstainence. No red meat. Ffish, eggs, and dairy instead.

Now, I happen to be in formation with the Confraternity of Penitents, and we have a stricter fasting schedule then most Catholics. BUT

BUT, our rule of life makes it quite clear…

“8c. The amount of food eaten on fast days will be particular to the individual penitent who should feel hungry but not debilitated, drowsy, or ill. The penitent should consult a spiritual director, confessor, or, if needed, a physician regarding the amount of food to be eaten.”

Our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, and not to be damaged by excessive mortifications.

Aside: I am 63 years old, so strictly speaking I do not need to fast. But I do. But my Physician cleared me first, and laid down guidelines. Just a suggestion. And start slow and easy.