Meat on Fridays

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maryjk

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I understand the hows and whys of not eating meat on any Friday and not substituting another form of penance. This question is not about that.

My question is:
Do you also abstain during the Octave of Easter? Like tomorrow? 🤷
Why or why not?
 
No, you would not abstain tomorrow. Tomorrow is a solemn feast (as is every day of the Octave), and thus a day of rejoicing and celebration…not penance. Solemnities always take precedence liturgically.
 
You can choose to abstain from eating meat any time you wish to. The CHURCH only requires that you abstain on two days of the year.

It doesn’t make you any more pious to not eat meat. But, if that’s YOUR choice, then go for it.

Personally, I was always exempted from the requirement to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, except when I was in Catholic Boarding School or in the Seminary. I was exempted from the REQUIREMENT as a youngster, because i was the only Catholic in a non-catholic family. After that, I was in the US Army from 1959-1969, and all military personnel were excused from that requirement (although we generally had non-meat alternatives on Fridays, at least till the mid 1960’s).
 
Given the current state of affairs in the world, I think it behooves all of us to go the extra mile in abstaining from meat on Fridays, except for this Friday as TWF suggests.
 
maryjk said:
I understand the hows and whys of not eating meat on any Friday and not substituting another form of penance. This question is not about that.

My question is:
Do you also abstain during the Octave of Easter? Like tomorrow? 🤷
Why or why not?
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Neither fasting nor abstainence are to be done on Solemnities. And tomorrow is indeed a Solemnity. Plenty of other days to enjoy fasting and/or abstainence:thumbsup:
 
twf said:
No, you would not abstain tomorrow. Tomorrow is a solemn feast (as is every day of the Octave), and thus a day of rejoicing and celebration…not penance. Solemnities always take precedence liturgically.
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That is what I thought, but a friend is delivering a meal to our family today. (We are in the midst of a serious family illness.) She mentioned that the leftovers would be great for my non-Catholic husband for tomorrow. I would have thought that since we are in the Octave of Easter, meat would be okay for everyone tomorrow. 🤷

And yes, I realize that the Church asks only that we abstain during Lent. And in fact I don’t always abstain on non-Lenten Fridays. Many Fridays I substitute another form of penance. But my friend is traditional. And I wondered why she would abstain tomorrow.
 
I just checked my traditional Catholic calendar, from the Transalpine Redemptorists, and it’s marked with a fish. Hmmm. Will research it when I have a chance.
 
JDSinSA said:
I just checked my traditional Catholic calendar, from the Transalpine Redemptorists, and it’s marked with a fish. Hmmm. Will research it when I have a chance.
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Thank you. That is what I am wondering, if someone is traditional, would they abstain?
 
maryjk said:
T And I wondered why she would abstain tomorrow.
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the entire octave is a solemnity, no fasting while the bridegroom is present
if the food is a gift accept with thanksgiving whatever is offered and eat it
 
maryjk said:
Thank you. That is what I am wondering, if someone is traditional, would they abstain?
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If they are following the pre-Vatican II abstinence regulations to a tee, then yes, they would abstain from meat even on Friday of Easter week. The former discipline was that every Friday of the year was a required day of abstinence, unless it was a holyday of obligation outside of Lent. So, for example, if Christmas fell on a Friday no abstinence was required. But the Friday of Easter week, even though it was a 1st class feast in the 1962 missal (the rank of “solemnity” was not yet used at the time), was not a holyday of obligation, and therefore would have been an abstinence day.

I hasten to add two things: a) the observance of the traditional fasting/abstinence regulations is purely voluntary today; and b) the current discipline in the Latin church does not say that you MUST refrain from Friday penance during the Easter octave, just that you are not required to do it.
 
TrueLight said:
What is tomorrow?
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Tomorrow is Friday of the Octave of Easter. Each day in the Easter Octave (i.e. Easter Sunday through the Second Sunday of Easter [aka the Sunday of Divine Mercy]) is a solemnity. Liturgically speaking, all eight days are the same feast day.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Tomorrow is Friday of the Octave of Easter. Each day in the Easter Octave (i.e. Easter Sunday through the Second Sunday of Easter [aka the Sunday of Divine Mercy]) is a solemnity. Liturgically speaking, all eight days are the same feast day.
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Is the Divine Mercy Liturgy different?
 
Also, and correct me if I’m wrong about this, but if food is brought to you from friends or family for consumption on this coming Friday, charity trumps all, and one could eat the meat dish?
 
santamonica said:
If they are following the pre-Vatican II abstinence regulations to a tee, then yes, they would abstain from meat even on Friday of Easter week. The former discipline was that every Friday of the year was a required day of abstinence, unless it was a holyday of obligation outside of Lent. So, for example, if Christmas fell on a Friday no abstinence was required. But the Friday of Easter week, even though it was a 1st class feast in the 1962 missal (the rank of “solemnity” was not yet used at the time), was not a holyday of obligation, and therefore would have been an abstinence day.
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Thank you, that was the answer I was looking for.
ProVobis said:
Then it’s a non-issue. Family comes first, I would think.
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JDSinSA said:
Also, and correct me if I’m wrong about this, but if food is brought to you from friends or family for consumption on this coming Friday, charity trumps all, and one could eat the meat dish?
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And yes, of course, if someone delivers a meal tomorrow or any Friday with meat, I would eat it. The last three months have been… awful. I am truly grateful for any help.

The thing is, my friend is delivering today, Thursday. And she commented about leftovers having meat and being a problem for tomorrow. 🤷 I just wondered why.
 
This is a great topic and so relevant. Friday will always be a day to remember Jesus’ sacrificial death, and i am finding it hard to get out of that even though i know it’s a season of great celebration. After the intensity of Lent its like its hard to unwind and think: Ok, He’s risen,it’s ok now! i still feel that even though its Easter, it’s good to reflect on the actual sacrifice that made this a reason to celebrate. Every Friday, u can offer up your own sacrifice in your own way if u feel that’s respectful to Jesus. Maybe you could also, at Mass, offer up extra thanks and praise and maybe do an hour’s Adoration daily during Easter. i guess its about being with Jesus in your heart, on his journey and wanting to be with him every step of the way.
 
bethanysamuel said:
This is a great topic and so relevant. Friday will always be a day to remember Jesus’ sacrificial death, and i am finding it hard to get out of that even though i know it’s a season of great celebration. After the intensity of Lent its like its hard to unwind and think: Ok, He’s risen,it’s ok now! i still feel that even though its Easter, it’s good to reflect on the actual sacrifice that made this a reason to celebrate. Every Friday, u can offer up your own sacrifice in your own way if u feel that’s respectful to Jesus. Maybe you could also, at Mass, offer up extra thanks and praise and maybe do an hour’s Adoration daily during Easter. i guess its about being with Jesus in your heart, on his journey and wanting to be with him every step of the way.
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Agreed.

Personally, all I’ve got to think of is the suffering souls in the world who benefit from our abstaining, such as the victims of the Alabama tornadoes, and I don’t want for motivation to abstain…
 
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