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Holly3278
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Hey everyone. I have heard that some people fast from meat on all Fridays of the year since Friday is a day of penance. Well, I was just wondering, is this required?
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NewsTheMan
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Paul2274
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I might be stepping out on a branch without research first… but I think we are required to make some form of penance on Fridays… ie. abstaining from meat… if it’s not Lent we can eat meat on Fridays but are required to make some other form of penance… extra prayer, go without TV… internet… listening to music… etc…
Will try to research it and see what I come up with… will post later.
Paul
Will try to research it and see what I come up with… will post later.
Paul
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Alexander_Roman
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I think we should just follow the Apostolic tradition of fasting on all Wednesdays and Fridays, during Lent etc. and never mind what the current fad/rules are!
One theologian once wrote about whether bishops had the right to cancel fasting. He said that they would IF it could be shown, in his view, that fasting gave some benefit to God.
But since fasting only benefits our spiritual condition, which requires fasting as a form of spiritual medicine, then bishops, as pastors/physicians of souls could not act to withold such needed medicine from the souls under their pastoral care.
Fasting on Wednesdays was done in honour of the “beginning of our Lord’s Passion” since the fourth day of the week was when Judas went to the Temple elders to arrange to betray Christ. Fasting on Fridays is in honour of the consummation of Christ’s Passion on Calvary.
Let’s just abstain from meat and meat by-products on those days and the other “old” fasting days and meditate on Christ’s Passion then - we can wear a Crucifix or else have one on our persons as an important sacramental in this regard.
Alex
One theologian once wrote about whether bishops had the right to cancel fasting. He said that they would IF it could be shown, in his view, that fasting gave some benefit to God.
But since fasting only benefits our spiritual condition, which requires fasting as a form of spiritual medicine, then bishops, as pastors/physicians of souls could not act to withold such needed medicine from the souls under their pastoral care.
Fasting on Wednesdays was done in honour of the “beginning of our Lord’s Passion” since the fourth day of the week was when Judas went to the Temple elders to arrange to betray Christ. Fasting on Fridays is in honour of the consummation of Christ’s Passion on Calvary.
Let’s just abstain from meat and meat by-products on those days and the other “old” fasting days and meditate on Christ’s Passion then - we can wear a Crucifix or else have one on our persons as an important sacramental in this regard.
Alex
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ProVobis
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josephdaniel29
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Yes penance is required on every Fri throughout the year. From time immemorial it was the practice in the Latin Church to abstain from meat on Fridays and at one time on Wednesdays as well. In fact Wed and Fri fasting is prescribed in the Didache (cir 100 AD), one of the oldest pieces of canonical literature in Christendom. For whatever reason the bishops in America decided to abandon that ancient practice and allow Latin Catholics in America to choose a penance for themselves instead of abstaining from meat. You are still required to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent.
In Christ
Joe
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dconklin
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How come this is not taught? I am a cradle Catholic. We moved a lot when I was a kid. I began Catholic school in the 5th grade and attended CCD before that. As I grew up we belonged to seven different parishes. From 5th grade through grad school I attended five different Catholic schools. Beyond fasting during Lent I had never heard this. With the wide variety of parishes and schools it is hard to blame it on one parish being lax. It is in the Catechism. I have a St Joseph Confirmation Book (very ‘old school’) and it mentions fasting on ‘appointed days’.
I am on staff at a parish and serve as the Asst DRE. I know that the materials we use do not cover these teachings/traditions - nor did the prior materials we used or materials I received as samples. Do other parishes teach this?
I am on staff at a parish and serve as the Asst DRE. I know that the materials we use do not cover these teachings/traditions - nor did the prior materials we used or materials I received as samples. Do other parishes teach this?
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jmcrae
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It isn’t taught to kids because kids aren’t bound by the laws of fasting, and if they aren’t yet 14 years old, they aren’t bound by the laws of penance. I’ve been told not to teach it, because it just confuses the kids.
However, if the kids aren’t taught this in school, in Sacramental Preparation, or in Catechism, then when are they supposed to learn it? Once they hit 18, they don’t come to Religion classes any more. I know that some priests put notices in the Bulletin about the laws of fasting and abstinence during Lent, but unless you pay close attention, it just seems as if penance is only required during Lent, even when the priest makes it clear that this is a year-round thing.
But yes, most of the people I know think that penance has become optional, after Vatican II, and they don’t believe me when I tell them that it’s actually required on every Friday. There also seem to be a lot of people who are unaware of the fast before Holy Communion - I see people drinking coffee, snacking, and chewing gum as they are walking into the Church for Mass. No one ever says anything to them.
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Holly3278
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Thanks everyone. If Canon Law states that we have to observe penance on Fridays of the whole year by abstaining from meat then why does the conference of Bishops here in the United States not make this clear to us? I honestly did not even know that this was a requirement until today.
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ProVobis
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I know you’re trying your best, but according to canon law it is DIVINE law to perform a penance. This is not a matter of discipline.It isn’t taught to kids because kids aren’t bound by the laws of fasting, and if they aren’t yet 14 years old, they aren’t bound by the laws of penance. I’ve been told not to teach it, because it just confuses the kids.
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jmcrae
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Yes, I know. And I always sneak in a presentation about the Five Precepts of the Church (oh yay one more thing to memorize, say the kids, and the parents just reflexively react with “do it anyway; it’s good for you”) and let the discussion come up by itself, about “what is penance, and what are the days,” etc. and then, all I am doing is answering questions that were brought up by the kids (because you’re supposed to do that, right?); I am not teaching it as a lesson plan, or “imposing” the information on the kids without their consent.
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josephdaniel29
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Because abstaining from meat on Fridays outside of Lent is not a requirement in the United States. Abstaining from meat is the traditional penance but the USCCB allows you to chose another appropriate penance.
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jmcrae
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Yes - the point being that some kind of penance is required on every Friday of the year, except for Solemnities.
Most people think it’s optional outside of Lent. The only part that’s optional is, what penance you want to do.
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crazzeto
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Yes it is, giving up meat as your penance is no longer required.
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josephdaniel29
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I have a hard time understanding how that happens. I’m 32 years old, not Catholic and have never been, but I’ve known since my childhood that Catholics didn’t eat meat of Fridays but ate fish instead. A Catholic friend of mine at work, who is non-practicing, still has a tuna fish sandwich for lunch every Friday because he grew up eating fish on Fridays. If the family practices abstinence then it doesn’t matter whether or not it is taught at school.
Have many Catholic families completely abandoned the practice of abstinence? If so how and when did that happen?
In Christ
Joe
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ProVobis
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thistle
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Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
The above does not apply here in the Philippines nor in many other countries.
Here you may choose your penance. Abstaining from meat (although that’s my personal choice) is not a requirement.
CCC 1438 The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).
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ProVobis
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The unintended consequences of that 1966 document (to appeal to our higher spiritualities to perform some penance) was that it was misintepreted by many to mean that since it would be no longer a mortal sin to eat eat on Fridays (outside Lent) then it was just a simple relaxation of the abstinence requirement. I would hate to have to explain to grade schoolers that they would have to come up ways to give themselves some sort of penance. That would involve some (perhaps overtortuous) creativity on their part. Seems as with the meat abstinence at least you didn’t have to worry about what’s appropriate for penance. But that’s my opinion.
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Vico
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nccbuscc.org/norms/12521253.htm
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops in their pastoral statement of November 18, 1966 determined the following:
Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday. Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole.
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GloriousOrder
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Never mind if it’s obligated or compelled; if it leads you Higher, make it a priority! People very often become focused on whether something is ‘required’, when it is required by morality. Surely, simply because something is not required does not mean one must do the opposite of it. In this case, what if a priest is not required to take a vow of poverty… should he abandon Christ’s teachings of holy poverty? Do it even if it isn’t required, but only if it brings you closer to glorifying God! 
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