Lenten Fasting

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I finally got around to taking a look at the church bulletin today, and the priest notes that Ash Wednesday “is a day of fast and abstinence. Fasting means ‘one full meal and two half meals’. Abstinence means ‘refraining from all red meats’.”

Is this a correct interpretation of the fasting/abstinence rules? Later, the priest mentions Fridays being fish days, so I don’t think he means we can eat chicken/pork on Fridays. But I guess I’m also bothered by two half meals thing. I thought it was supposed to be less than two half meals?

I feel pretty stupid for bringing this up, since my issue is obviously a linguistic one. I guess I’m wondering if I should bring up to him, although I’d rather not. I thought I’d come here before I did anything really dumb. 😊
 
Yes, this correct. Though a slight variation on what I’ve read – two smaller meals that don’t equal one full meal.
 
I was taught that the fast should consist of two small ‘meals’ that don’t equal to one full meal as well. On top of the fast we shouldn’t have any meat (of course, fish is not considered meat).

I’m nervous for this one! I don’t do well on a hungry stomach.
 
Don’t feel dumb at all, it’s kind of vague and I think that’s intentionally so because we don’t have a prescribed meaning of what a “meal” constitutes. Is that a half-bowl of cereal and half a cup of coffee for breakfast, and a half sandwich and half an orange for lunch when normally you eat the full equivalents? My understanding has been:
  1. Eat a full meal at some point in the day.
  2. Eat up to two lesser meals elsewhere in the day so that the total of the two smaller meals isn’t more than your full meal.
  3. No snacking, no fourth meal.
  4. If you have a food-related health concern or are not within the age, then you are not bound to fast but should offer something within a penitential spirit. This includes people with blood sugar and blood pressure concerns, pregnant and nursing mothers, people taking certain medications (heart meds on an empty stomach is a quick trip to the hospital), thyroid problems, and (I’ve been told) anyone for whom fasting causes debilitating lapses, for example over-the-road drivers and surgeons for whom failures in concentration due to hunger may result tragically.
Let me give the example of my wife. She’s borderline hypo-glycemic and really needs to eat six or seven times a day to avoid migraines or passing out. She has actually passed out at work when her boss kept her in a longer-than-expected meeting that caused her to skip lunch (and boy did he hear about it from his boss). So her fasting is to cut back on her snacks to something more basic - carrot sticks instead of graham crackers, or plain yogurt instead of strawberry. She has popcorn instead of ice cream for dessert. On days of fasting she cuts out TV and leisure time on the computer as well.
 
OrangeOwl said:
I finally got around to taking a look at the church bulletin today, and the priest notes that Ash Wednesday “is a day of fast and abstinence. Fasting means ‘one full meal and two half meals’. Abstinence means ‘refraining from all red meats’.”

Is this a correct interpretation of the fasting/abstinence rules? Later, the priest mentions Fridays being fish days, so I don’t think he means we can eat chicken/pork on Fridays. But I guess I’m also bothered by two half meals thing. I thought it was supposed to be less than two half meals?

I feel pretty stupid for bringing this up, since my issue is obviously a linguistic one. I guess I’m wondering if I should bring up to him, although I’d rather not. I thought I’d come here before I did anything really dumb. 😊
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I’m not so sure about your pastor’s reference to “red meat.” The way I learned it, abstinence means NO “meat” at all, which would include chicken and pork, and of course veal, all of which clearly aren’t “red.” As previously pointed out, fish is not considered meat.
 
The “red meats” isn’t quite accurate. You may wish to contact the parish office. It could have been a typo.
 
One more question, are frog legs considered a meat or a fish???
 
chococat said:
One more question, are frog legs considered a meat or a fish???
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Think about it this way. Meat from a warm-blooded animal is forbidden. Fish, amphibian, crocodiles, etc are cold-blooded and are permitted.
 
Splagchnizomai said:
Think about it this way. Meat from a warm-blooded animal is forbidden. Fish, amphibian, crocodiles, etc are cold-blooded and are permitted.
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If in doubt, leave it out. I think it partly has to do with economics - the word is “carnes” which refers to meats like beef, pork, goat, horse, camel, and poultry like pheasant, chicken, sparrow, pigeon, ostrich. So the wealthy who eat higher-quality meats have to abstain, but the poor who may not have anything to eat but what they catch (frogs, fish, iguanas, snails, snakes) don’t have to starve.Or that’s just a revisionist approach.
 
I don’t do the Lenten fast because I am diabetic and insulin dependent but I do abstain from meat and eat fish on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during the year or some other non meat protein because I have to eat small meals every three hour to keep my blood sugar in check I have gotten a perpetual dispensation for this.
 
Fasting has been defined. Abstinence means no meat, and poultry counts. When it comes to iffy stuff like alligator ( :confused: ), I’d just leave it out.
 
Here’s my thing. I frequently go all day without eating much, sometimes waiting for dinner to eat at all. I don’t find the church’s fasting requirements as much of a fast. IMO it should be one meal all day long and no ‘two smaller meals’.
 
thomasf said:
Here’s my thing. I frequently go all day without eating much, sometimes waiting for dinner to eat at all. I don’t find the church’s fasting requirements as much of a fast. IMO it should be one meal all day long and no ‘two smaller meals’.
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You are free to follow a stricter fast if you wish (unless, for example, your SD has advised you not to).

As you state, the Church has ‘requirements’, they are minimum requirements which are suitable for all healthy adults with a variety of lifestyles, careers, calorific needs etc. If you want to fast more, do, but appreciate that not everyone can.

The Church does encourage fasting more than the minimum, if you can.
 
I make sure I abstain from meat today for Ash Wednesday and all Lenten Fridays. That I do not have an issue with healthwise.

I do a modified version of the fasting so I do not trigger my migraines from lack of eating and/or eating less than normal. I will abstaining from snacking on junk foods/candies but eat smaller meals spread throughout the day.
 
What I find interesting is that in the Protestant tradition when they say they’re fasting they mean they are not touching any food at all. I have to admit when I joined the Church last year I was confused by the fasting with food idea. Haha.

I think the whole one meal and two smaller meals fast idea isn’t really a fast IMHO. Personally, due to some health issues, I can’t participate in a ‘proper’ fast, in the way that I’m used to fasting… but this Catholic version of fasting is something I can actually participate in. 🙂 So I’m happy.
 
Splagchnizomai said:
Yes, this correct. Though a slight variation on what I’ve read – two smaller meals that don’t equal one full meal.
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No, it’s not correct. We are required to abstain from all flesh meat, not just red meat. We’re permitted seafood, fish, frog, alligator, crocodile, snake, etc. We can eat cold-blooded animals.
 
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