No Meat, No Eat: Catholic Fast Days?

[9elie_is_a_nun]

What about kebabs are they prohibited or am I allowed to eat them on Fridays?

 

[LaLucia]

I am an old lady so I don’t have to fast. But I have been fasting today anyway. I ate some carrots and polenta for lunch. Tonight I plan to go out to dinner and have a nice fish dinner.
I belong to a Catholic Bible group. They said they would like support from everybody if possible.
One 77yr.old man is diabetic so he has to eat small meals all day. He likes to make jokes and he said he was giving up lobster for Lent. We all laughed because most likely he only eats lobster once per year. Hi wife was laughing too.
I live in the west coast and it is now 4p.m.

 

[Goth_Catholic]

7:30 on the east coast, 4 and a half hours till I can eat. I do the extreme fast and don’t eat at all. I have a wonderfull midnight dinner of fish, noodles, cheese, a roll and grape juice waiting for me.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Does booze count as a liquid?

 

[yessisan]

It’s 5pm for me and I didn’t have breakfast. I ate a very light lunch (so I’m starving!), and will have dinner after 9:30pm since I have class from 6-9:30pm. When I get home from school I’ll be having a cream of zuccini soup I made for dinner.

Goth, I can’t believe you are going all the way till midnight w/o food. Even with my light lunch, I’m starving and getting a headache .

 

[LilyM]

It’s 5pm for me and I didn’t have breakfast. I ate a very light lunch (so I’m starving!), and will have dinner after 9:30pm since I have class from 6-9:30pm. When I get home from school I’ll be having a cream of zuccini soup I made for dinner.

Goth, I can’t believe you are going all the way till midnight w/o food. Even with my light lunch, I’m starving and getting a headache .

You CAN have one other snack, y’know. Not a full meal, but something to tide you over.

 

[yessisan]

You CAN have one other snack, y’know. Not a full meal, but something to tide you over.

I know, I’m just tring to see if I can hold off, but most likely I’ll take some fruit to school.

 

[Goth_Catholic]

Goth, I can’t believe you are going all the way till midnight w/o food. Even with my light lunch, I’m starving and getting a headache .

I got a headache around dinnertime but i’m alright now. My stomach is growling pretty good, but i’ve made it over twenty hours, I can do 4 more

 

[LilyM]

I know, I’m just tring to see if I can hold off, but most likely I’ll take some fruit to school.

I find fruit alone doesn’t agree well with an empty stomach. A drink of milk to go with it would line it better.

 

[FanChan]

My mom and I scarfed down a pretty big dinner just before midnight Tuesday, so fasting all day has been fairly easy for me, at least, despite getting up early for Church, walking home, doing housework, and teaching my art classes Heh, I actually found myself after the art class praying to God to make it harder for me, because, well, what good is fasting if it isn’t difficult? Only forty minutes to go for me ^^ Mom and I are thinking about a turkey sandwich to last us 'till morning.

I also found out she’s giving up snacks for Lent, so I asked her if she’d fast with me on all of the weekdays - two small meals during the day and a regular meal at dinner time - and she says she might as well try. It’s much more comforting to fast when the other people in the house are doing it, too

 

[Goth_Catholic]

I made it and I just finished woofing down my “dinner”. Now i’m going to bed with a full stomach

 

[mpnroger]

I find fasting and sticking to it spiritually strengthening. I’m substituting food with prayer and rosary. Focus is on our eternal life with Jesus Christ and I think of how he died to save us using his own body and blood.The least I can do is not eat that donut. I also find it in a subtle way a witness of my love for the Lord God. I don’t tank up the day before or gorge the day after but continue to eat normal before and after. Fasting strengthens my resistance to other things I should not be involved with in daily life. Food for thought!!! happy Holy Week!

 

[FanChan]

Amen to that! I partook in a 40 Days bread and water fast this Lent, then a complete fast from Holy Thursday until after the Easter Vigil, and I must say that I have never experienced Lent or Easter so completely as I have this year. The whole experience is humbling. I also spent the Triduum in silence, removing myself from all froms of communication outside of prayer, and was able to learn a great deal about myself and my relationship with God. I highly recommend any form of fast (be it from food, communication, media, etc) for anyone who wants to better connect with their faith, or if they’re experiencing hard times. Sacrifice in the hardest times provides an even greater reward.

 

[lp22]

I have to put cream in my coffee because of inflammation of the stomach lining, probably the start of an ulcer that bothers me from time to time. Does that count as medicine?

And here is something else that happened… I forgot about the ulcer and wanted to try a garlic pill. Garlic pills burn. I had to hurriedly down some yogurt to quell the burning. Does that count as medicine? I later thought, maybe I should have grabbed some pepto bismol, though I’m not sure it would have been as effective.

I thought the idea was to avoid food and anything that would satisfy the craving for food. In these instances isn’t this intention preserved?

 

[FanChan]

I have to put cream in my coffee because of inflammation of the stomach lining, probably the start of an ulcer that bothers me from time to time. Does that count as medicine?

And here is something else that happened… I forgot about the ulcer and wanted to try a garlic pill. Garlic pills burn. I had to hurriedly down some yogurt to quell the burning. Does that count as medicine? I later thought, maybe I should have grabbed some pepto bismol, though I’m not sure it would have been as effective.

I thought the idea was to avoid food and anything that would satisfy the craving for food. In these instances isn’t this intention preserved?

The whole fasting before Mass thing doesn’t have to be stuck so strictly to. What you did could be either considered a part of being healthy, or an unintentional slip. Some people with medical conditions or very high metabolisms can’t fast before Mass. Some medication requires being taken on a full stomach. Fasting before Mass is a tool to get your mind on what’s about to happen, not just a protocol to follow. So, no worries about those instances.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

The whole fasting before Mass thing doesn’t have to be stuck so strictly to. What you did could be either considered a part of being healthy, or an unintentional slip. Some people with medical conditions or very high metabolisms can’t fast before Mass. Some medication requires being taken on a full stomach. Fasting before Mass is a tool to get your mind on what’s about to happen, not just a protocol to follow. So, no worries about those instances.

Yes, it DOES have to be ‘stuck to’ for us ordinary folk. Else everyone will have his hand up going, ‘I like potato chips and abstaining will be a hardship so me, too!’

The Church sets these standards for OUR benefit, not just arbitrarily.

The whole I-crave- yogurt thing just makes it seem like anything goes, as long as you ‘didn’t mean it.’

This is not the church of ‘anything goes.’

 

[FanChan]

Yes, it DOES have to be ‘stuck to’ for us ordinary folk. Else everyone will have his hand up going, ‘I like potato chips and abstaining will be a hardship so me, too!’

The Church sets these standards for OUR benefit, not just arbitrarily.

The whole I-crave- yogurt thing just makes it seem like anything goes, as long as you ‘didn’t mean it.’

This is not the church of ‘anything goes.’

Perhaps I worded it poorly. The point I was trying to make is that it’s not fasting to fast, it’s fasting for a reason, and our minds and hearts should be on the reason. The OP didn’t ‘crave’ yogurt, they ate it in an attempt to quell the heartburn they accidentally set off. I know from experience that works a lot quicker than, say, tums. We need to avoid getting so wrapped up in the minute details of the discipline, so that we don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees.

If someone makes the excuse for themselves that they have to eat potato chips before Mass or else they’ll be sick, but they actually won’t, then they’ve got a lot more problems than just not understanding the purpose of fasting before Mass. But there -are- exceptions to this. Diabetics, for one. There are quite a few stories of people with high metabolisms fainting in Mass from fasting even just a couple of hours. You can’t just slap a discipline down across the board without taking a look at each individual person that has to conform to it.

To the OP: Research the reason for fasting before Mass, truly understand that, and you’ll have an easier time making these decisions for yourself.

 

[Mintaka]

In the Latin Rite, people are fully permitted to take medicine before Mass; medication doesn’t break the fast. There used to be different regs; but this was changed well before Vatican II – so it applies both to EF and OF.

The infirm don’t have to fast at all; they are dispensed from fasting.

 

[lp22]

Thank you so much for this (name removed by moderator)ut

I am speaking of days-long fasting - on Fridays in memory of Jesus’ passion and for penance, not just before communion.

I think I am not ok on slugging the yogurt down. Although it wasn’t intentional and was a desire for relief I got the feeling it wasn’t acceptable.

But I have the feeling fruit and vegetable juices are. Did I read that right in prior posts, that they are ok according the Church?

I would think a bread and water fast would be easier than a juice fast, no?

You know, I learned when they discovered my thyroid problem that fasting slows down the thyroid quite a bit. When my thyroid is low it is so much easier to pray, and to pray without distraction, to focus and direct my will and my love. I never could find in any catholic literature if that was one of the reasons to fast.
Does anyone know if it is, besides the sacrifice for God, one of the reasons?
And I think of the type of demon to get rid of which Jesus said one must fast and pray. And I wonder why? What is it about fasting that makes the difference? does anyone know?

Thank you again so much for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Ever since I was old enough to understand the benefits of fasting - around sixteen or seventeen - I joined my dad in weekday fasting during lent. These days, I think it really depends on the person. It’s an optional thing (at least at present), and it can depend on what the person does or how their body works. For some - especially those with very high metabolisms or who do a great deal of manual labor for their job - it could be dangerous to fast daily for the duration (ommitting weekends). While for others - like me - with low metabolisms and who don’t move around very much during the day, fasting is a great way to keep your mind on God.

My family’s also tried returning to the idea of no meat on Fridays, every Friday. It lasted quite a while, but it was just so hard to remember - actually doing it wasn’t the issue, none of us minded not eating meat on Fridays, it was just remembering to do it when the day came around Perhaps we should try to maintain it once Lent is over this year.

It used to be so hard to forget in was Friday because all the resturant/eatery specials were fish! lol The cafeteria at my old job used to always have a fish dish on Fridays. Helped me remember, and helped me keep up, since if I’d packed meta in my lunch I’d buy the fish special and have the ham sandwich or whatever on saturday.

I have been seriously considering the Lenten fast this year. I certainly don’t get enough exercise during the day to make it dangerous!