No Friday abstinence tomorrow (All Saints' Day)

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In the Byzantine Tradition, we celebrate All Saints on the First Sunday after Pentecost (that’s Trinity Sunday on the Latin calendar).

November 1

The Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian; Passing into Eternal Life of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, 1944; Passing into Eternal Life (1947) of Blessed Theodore Romzha, Bishop of Mukachevo, and Martyr; [Colossians 2:1-7]; [Luke 9:12-17.]
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.

I’ll have to ask Father if we can have meat next Friday Nov. 8th - the Feast of the Holy Archangel Michael and All the Heavenly Incorporeal Powers (~ Sept. 29th & Oct. 2 on the Latin calendar).
 
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I’m under 55 and I know what Ember Days are even though I’m Ukrainian Greek Catholic. 😉
 
irenaeuslyons said:
Is “solemnity” synonymous with a 1st class feast?
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You could say so, yes. But as I remember it the old Code of Canon Law only referred to Holy Days of Obligation for cancelling Friday abstinence. So for example All Saints would remit the abstinence if falling on a Friday whereas All Souls would not (even though both are Feasts of the First Class, only All Saints is a Holy Day)
 
HomeschoolDad said:
I once knew a man, married a Catholic and converted, who insisted that you have to eat fish on Fridays of Lent. I told him no, it’s just abstaining from meat, you can eat anything meatless that you want to — cheese casserole, vegetable lasagna, pinto beans and cornbread, whatever. He said no, no, we have to eat fish. There was no persuading him otherwise, so I just gave up.
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He was an Anglo-American convert and his wife was Panamanian, so that might have been it — it may be a cultural thing in Panama, I wouldn’t know. Anyone?
 
I’ve never heard of Ember days but I fast every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
I once knew a man, married a Catholic and converted, who insisted that you have to eat fish on Fridays of Lent. … He said no, no, we have to eat fish. There was no persuading him otherwise, so I just gave up.
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To be fair, I have been known to (facetiously) assert the same:

The pope printed little fishes on the calendar – That means I have to order anchovy pizza!

🐟🍕
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Nobody under the age of 75 would have the foggiest notion what “Ember Days” even are.

I always assumed that the name referred to the cooling of some kind of embers, perhaps spiritual ones, a kind of mini-Lent. Learn something new every day…
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Almost no one in our FSSP parish is over 75, so I must take issue with your assertion.🧐
 
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You have it reversed. Solemnities are the highest rank of feast. If a regular feast falls on a Friday, we still abstain. But if a solemnity falls on a Friday, we treat the day like a Sunday and do not abstain (like today).
 
OldCAFMember said:
Nobody under the age of 75 would have the foggiest notion what “Ember Days” even are.

I always assumed that the name referred to the cooling of some kind of embers, perhaps spiritual ones, a kind of mini-Lent. Learn something new every day…
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I was referring to the Catholic world at large, not the FSSP, SSPX, et al. Obviously those people know, because their priests remind them of it, and it is part of their spirituality if they choose to observe them. Ember and Rogation Days are now a matter of private devotion and do not bind in conscience.

I was using “nobody” in the everyday, colloquial sense, not to assert literally “there is not one single person in the Church under the age of 75…”. As some might say, no, I have not looked up every single Catholic in the world and asked them, “hey, Ember Days, ever heard of them?”. It is the same kind of colloquial speech as I would use if I picked up a heavy box and said “this box weighs a ton!”. Obviously it doesn’t literally weigh 2000 pounds. I couldn’t pick up a box that heavy.
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You have to rub it in, huh? 😛

I’m having vegetable soup tonight.

С праздником to you and yours.

Saints Cosmas and Damian, whose feast we celebrate today, pray for us. 😁
 
HomeschoolDad said:
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thistle:
Here in the Philippines All Saints Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Apart from Sundays we only have three Holy Days of Obligation:

Immaculate Conception (Dec 8)
Christmas/Nativity of Our Lord (Dec 25)
Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (jan 1)
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America is not a Catholic culture and we have a horrible time trying to teach and remind Catholics of their obligations, such as abstinence from meat (or some alternate penance) on Fridays throughout the year. Those under the age of 40 generally just don’t know. It’s not a concept.
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I’m not sure why it would be that hard. As far as Mass-going Catholics go, simply remind them on a regular basis from the pulpit and in the bulletin and the message will get through. Catholics who don’t go to Mass on a regular basis probably wouldn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to Friday abstinence, even if they knew. They might be more likely to go with Meatless Mondays , since you get some alliteration there. If they are not getting to Mass, it is unlikely that other regulations from the church will make a difference.
 
babochka said:
America is not a Catholic culture and we have a horrible time trying to teach and remind Catholics of their obligations, such as abstinence from meat (or some alternate penance) on Fridays throughout the year. Those under the age of 40 generally just don’t know. It’s not a concept.
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I could totally get behind this. I might add something like “there has been much misinformation and misunderstanding about this subject in recent years, so here are the principles you need to keep in mind…”
babochka said:
Catholics who don’t go to Mass on a regular basis probably wouldn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to Friday abstinence, even if they knew.
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They can’t know what they don’t hear.
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UpUpAndAway said:
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HomeschoolDad:
since tomorrow (Friday 1 Nov) is a holy day, All Saints’ Day, Friday abstinence from meat does not oblige
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Friday abstinence does not apply because All Saints is a solemnity, not because it’s an HDO. The way I understand Can. 1251 as quoted by @Titivillus above, Friday abstinence is not to be observed when a solemnity falls on a Friday, whether or not it is also an HDO.
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It is an interesting point of observance between sui iuris churches. The Latin Church (USCCB) in 2016 transferred the observance of the Annunciation from Good Friday to Monday, April 4, 2016, but when the Byzantine Catholic had the Annunciation falling on Great and Holy Friday that year, a special liturgical book was issued and there was no transfer. The Annunciation is a Solemnity but not Great and Holy Friday. In the Byzantine Catholic Church neither is obligatory (unlike the Ukrainian Catholic Church that oblige to observe the Annunciation). For that combination the strict fast which is customarily observed on Great and Holy Friday still applied for the Byzantine Catholic sui iuris church even though it was a Solemnity.
 
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What is worse: feasting on a fast day, or fasting on a feast day?
 
I’m glad I’m over 60. I couldn’t keep track of all this.
 
Convert3 said:
I’m glad I’m over 60. I couldn’t keep track of all this.
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Hate to break it to you, but age exempts (Latin) Catholics from the law of fast, but not from abstinence.

(And I am frequently surprised when I recognize how quickly I, too, am approaching the age 👴)
 
Well, I’ve been taught that we abstain from meat during Lent. I’ve had dinner with a priest on Friday and we both had meat. I’ve only heard different hear. My wife is a cradle Catholic and prepares most meals.
 
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