Is All Souls Feast or Fast?

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tiuzzol

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I’m trying to figure out whether All Souls day is a Feast which negates the need for the Friday fasting/penance. Any thoughts?

I kind of see it this way:
  1. The souls are in purgatory, so they’re doing their own penance, we should join them.
  2. It’s a first Friday, which I try to be extra careful about doing penance in devotion to the Sacred Heart.
  3. It’s Friday, so it’d normally be a day of abstinence or substitute-your-own-penance.
On the other hand:
4. It’s not a solemnity, but it is a Feast of major importance
5. There are 3 readings at mass, not two (generally how i figure out that it’s a Solemity or extra special Feast).

Thoughts?
 
Interesting question. If it’d be a day of fasting, shouldn’t this normally be announced by the priest or in the bulletin? I know come Lent, the rules for abstinence and fasting are always spelled out in the bulletin, and this is for what I’d consider an “obvious” time of fasting.
 
Sorry for the confusion. I know it’s not a day of Mandatory Fasting like Fridays in Lent, but since Fridays the rest of the year are days of voluntary penance except during major Feasts and Solemnities, should it be a day of regular Friday penance or is it a major Feast day (like All Saints Day or the Feast day of Joseph, Husband of Mary) which would negate the voluntary penance?

Hope that made sense.
 
tiuzzol said:
I know it’s not a day of Mandatory Fasting like Fridays in Lent, but since Fridays the rest of the year are days of voluntary penance except during major Feasts and Solemnities, should it be a day of regular Friday penance or is it a major Feast day (like All Saints Day or the Feast day of Joseph, Husband of Mary) which would negate the voluntary penance?

Hope that made sense.
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Friday’s throughout the year are a time of mandatory abstinence with the option of substituting a comparable sacrifice except in lent.
 
Inego_de_Loyola said:
Friday’s throughout the year are a time of mandatory abstinence with the option of substituting a comparable sacrifice except in lent.
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Correct, although the Church has done a terrible job of educating people about this. I was a devout practicing Catholic for a long time and had no idea about it. I thought it was only during Lent that one was required to fast.

To answer the original question, the status of All Souls day on calendar seems to be a bit unique. This article from EWTN states “Nov. 2, All Souls’ Day, is something of a special class that, without being a solemnity, still has precedence over a Sunday.” Not sure where this leaves us in regard to the question of fasting. It is a unique day on the liturgical calendar anyway, since it is the only day (as far as I can see) which celebrates people who are not in Heaven.
 
Since I was unsure about the status of All Souls Day, I’m giving up sweets for today. I normally give up meat on Fridays, but today I’m making a dish that contains refried beans that have lard in them, and since lard comes from animal fat, I thought I’d better give up something else just to be safe. I’m offering up my sacrifice for poor sinners. Giving up sweets is actually harder for me than giving up meat.
 
Inego_de_Loyola said:
Friday’s throughout the year are a time of mandatory abstinence with the option of substituting a comparable sacrifice except in lent.
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Actually it’s no longer mandatory, though it should be. See this for an explanation:

jimmyakin.com/2004/07/since_tomorrow_.html
jimmyakin.com/2004/07/more_on_friday_.html

Essentially, the Bishops removed the obligation to do penance on Friday, under penalty of sin, even though that was not the Vatican’s wishes. But because the Vatican hasn’t yet directed them to correct the issue, mandatory abstinence/reparation remains in the US only during Lent. HOWEVER, love of Jesus places on us an obligation to take penance and reparation seriously even without a mandated obligation. So to fail to do regular penance without good reason would be a sin, not of disobedience to the Church, but of lack of charity to our Lord.
 
tiuzzol said:
Actually it’s no longer mandatory, though it should be. See this for an explanation:
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It actually depends on what country you’re in. Since most of us are in the US, what you say is true. In the UK, however, the bishops have reinstated the requirement to abstain from meat on Fridays.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
It actually depends on what country you’re in. Since most of us are in the US, what you say is true. In the UK, however, the bishops have reinstated the requirement to abstain from meat on Fridays.
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True about the UK, but the press release Q & A section at the time made it clear that failure to abstain did not involve mortal sin, as long as another penance was substituted. In other words, any sin would be because of disobedience to the call for penance.
 
Good question!

When in doubt, I look at the calendar here.
The shading tells us what color vestments will be worn. If they’re white or red, it’s a feast or solemnity.
Can. 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday
Click to expand...
 
BTW: I think there’s a lot of frustration over the penance on Fridays issue–a lot of frustration over the fact that people aren’t abstaining and don’t seem to care. The problem in the US is not that people don’t care, but that the average churchgoer doesn’t understand why it’s important at all. Generally people think “We abstain from meat on Fridays because it’s lent and because Friday is the day Jesus died,” so it makes sense that outside of lent you don’t do it. In looking into the issue, I thought it was to remember Jesus death on Fridays. If it’s just about remembering Jesus’s death, you might as well put a crucifix on your computer while you work.

What people don’t understand, and are rarely told, is why personal acts of reparation are so important. It’s very rare for a priest to give a homily on why fasting or abstinence is good for you personally or the Church as a whole. What power does reparation hold? What should motivate each individual to do it? The only times I’ve heard any talk at all of reparation are generally in conjunction with Our Lady of Fatima. So unless a priest is really into Fatima, it doesn’t get discussed.
 
tiuzzol said:
I’m trying to figure out whether All Souls day is a Feast which negates the need for the Friday fasting/penance. Any thoughts?

I kind of see it this way:
  1. The souls are in purgatory, so they’re doing their own penance, we should join them.
  2. It’s a first Friday, which I try to be extra careful about doing penance in devotion to the Sacred Heart.
  3. It’s Friday, so it’d normally be a day of abstinence or substitute-your-own-penance.
On the other hand:
4. It’s not a solemnity, but it is a Feast of major importance
5. There are 3 readings at mass, not two (generally how i figure out that it’s a Solemity or extra special Feast).

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
You are correct, It is a feast day but not a solemnity and so it is a manadatory day of penance, even if it is not under the penalty of sin. I am going to stop at the store and get ready for fish andp chips.🙂
 
tiuzzol said:
BTW: I think there’s a lot of frustration over the penance on Fridays issue–a lot of frustration over the fact that people aren’t abstaining and don’t seem to care. The problem in the US is not that people don’t care, but that the average churchgoer doesn’t understand why it’s important at all.
Click to expand...
My own pastor said that abstinence was no longer required on Fridays outside of Lent, and he made no mention of making a substitute sacrifice. If a priest doesn’t know, then how is the average churchgoer supposed to know? I only know b/c I have been studying my Faith very carefully after a reversion 16 months ago. I actually found out on CAF. Now that I know, I follow it.
 
anilorak13ska said:
Interesting question. If it’d be a day of fasting, shouldn’t this normally be announced by the priest or in the bulletin? I know come Lent, the rules for abstinence and fasting are always spelled out in the bulletin, and this is for what I’d consider an “obvious” time of fasting.
Click to expand...
I agree, wouldnt there have been an announcement in church
 
louisak said:
Correct, although the Church has done a terrible job of educating people about this. I was a devout practicing Catholic for a long time and had no idea about it. I thought it was only during Lent that one was required to fast.

To answer the original question, the status of All Souls day on calendar seems to be a bit unique. This article from EWTN states “Nov. 2, All Souls’ Day, is something of a special class that, without being a solemnity, still has precedence over a Sunday.” Not sure where this leaves us in regard to the question of fasting. It is a unique day on the liturgical calendar anyway, since it is the only day (as far as I can see) which celebrates people who are not in Heaven.
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It is a strange one. All Souls’ Day takes precedence on Sundays but only for the Mass. The Liturgy of the Hours of the Sunday is observed instead of the Office of the Dead.

There are also three nocturnes at Vigils (for the Monastic Office) or Vigils canticles (for the LOTH, optionally) as is always the case for the Office of the Dead, like a feast, but no Te Deum.
 
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