Those who Abstain on Fridays

[amsjj]

nickybr38, I’m cradle-Catholic, but I never got the second part of the message either! Just the “no, you don’t have to abstain from meat anymore,” but nothing about putting another penance in its place. That part got completely missed!

I fast and abstain every Fridays for the welfare of the Holy Father and various priests/communities. Oh boy, sometimes it’s amazing how all of sudden food and snacking seem so tempting to me! But it also lifts my thoughts to Heaven. Last Lent I went the whole forty days, and that took several days to adjust. For me, abstinence and fasting is a difficult penance – how I love my meat!

People know I’m Catholic, so I wouldn’t change it just b/c I went out, but that’s just me. Oh, I’m reminded of a time when a co-worker turned to me at a restaurant, seeing me with a steak, and suddenly exclaiming in horror “Wait, isn’t it Friday?! No meat!” She scared me b/c I was like “Oh, no, I got the day wrong!” But then we realised it was Saturday.

take care,
amsjj

+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.
– Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851

 

[TobyLue]

Actually, although we are recommended to substitute a different penance if not doing the Friday abstinence, there is some question as to whether this constitutes an obligation. The USCCB document which made the change clearly deleted the obligation attached to Friday abstinence. And while it recommended we continue some sort of Friday penance, it did not clearly state this as obligatory

I for one, with my family, have being abstaining from meat on all Fridays of the year. Why? Well first we have this from canon law:

Canon 1250** – **All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the universal Church.

Canon 1251 – Abstinence from eating meat or other food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays through the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Canon 1253 ** – It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance,** especially works of charity and exercises of piety. (all emphasis mine)

In other words, if we do not abstain from meat, we must abstain from something else that we do every day, like say coffee and making sure to offer that in place of meat, or doing, as suggested some other form of penance.

If my family is doing something or maybe we are at a function where meat is the main course of the meal, then we make sure to get together and offer a rosary as an act of love for the holy souls in purgatory.

The reasons we abstain from meat is because it is easier to remember it and because I have been doing it since childhood.

I remember also when all days of Lent except Sundays, we had to partially abstain from meat. We could eat meat only once a day, and also partial fast, meaning that we could have one large meal, and two smaller meals that would not equal that large meal.

Some have mistakenly believed that the sin was eating of meat, but that is not the case. It is the disobedience of not following Church law and keeping the obligation. A person that had to be on a special diet and had to have meat, was dispensed from the obligation.

My priest said that we are all required to do some form of penance on all Fridays, and there has been no removal of that obligation.

As it states on 1253, the USCCB has given us the **option **of abstaining from meat or doing something else, but I have not seen any revision to Canon Law that removes the Friday Penance completely other than on Fridays of Lent.

A few years ago my son was attending a Catholic all boys school. I asked him if fish was being served on Fridays at the cafeteria. He said no. I quickly wrote a letter to the principal and pointed out Canon law, and within a couple of weeks, my sons said that fish was being served. I have not seen anything that completely removes the obligation for some sort of penance nor see anything on the above Canon Law that only “recommends” some form of penance.

If there is one, kindly provide the link and I shall forward it for an explanation from some friends of mine who are Canon Lawyers.

edit to remove duplicate sentence

 

[Schedman]

While we are on the subject of “Those who Abstain on Fridays”, my dad who is 87 and will be 88 later this year asked me if he was exempt from the Lenten rules on fasting and abstince. I told him I thought he was but wasn’t sure. Does anyone out there have an answer?

 

[grasscutter]

While we are on the subject of “Those who Abstain on Fridays”, my dad who is 87 and will be 88 later this year asked me if he was exempt from the Lenten rules on fasting and abstince. I told him I thought he was but wasn’t sure. Does anyone out there have an answer?

I believe that fasting and abstinence are not mandatory after 65 years of age.

 

[JerrySeibert]

Abstinance and pennance are acts of respect.
I choose not to eat meat on Friday as my Father would not allow it. All year Lent as he called it. But you can do anything that you offer to the Lord.
Begin praying the LOTH, it takes time. Time with God. Always well spent. Do something that will bring you closer to the Father.
Or something to show appreciation for what he gave us, his son.

 

[rotlex]

My wife and I abstain on all Friday’s, with maybe the exception of during vacations. Our children are both under 10, and they attempt it as well, although we do not by any means make it a requirement. They simply like to try and do what Mommy and Daddy do.

I have a number of reasons, not the least of which is that my family, from parents to grandparents, always abstained on all Friday’s of the year. For me personally though, I guess it’s just the way I prefer to do my personal penance each week. Besides, it’s actually fairly easy, and gives me a bit of a break from my usual 90% plus meat days.

 

[fred_conty]

I started saying the Divine Mercy Prayer (not the entire Chaplet) everyday at 3pm to remind myself daily of Christ’s passion.

That was a great idea. I heard of another idea. From noon to 3 pm, eat and drink nothing
all week except Sunday during those hours of His passion and death, excluding all forms of entertainment. And if you feel tired, hungry or thirsty, tell Him how glad you are being one with Him and how much you love Him.

 

[spunjalebi]

It’s like this. Here are the choices:

• Choose to ignore the rules out of defiance.
• Choose to obey the rules but grudgingly and unhappily. :sad_yes:
• Choose to obey the rules in obedience even though one doesn’t quite get it - but be “willing to be willing” and see what happens :ehh:
• Obey the rules in a spirit of joy and full understanding and insight which comes over time. :yup:

I disagree strongly with this approach because it only breeds the grounds for rebellion and lack of respect, especially with younger people in the Church. Most people do not ignore the rules out of defiance, but aren’t properly catechized and therefore do not know why or understand why they should obey something that was never properly explained. Even if they were to “grudgingly” obey the rules, it means that the state of their heart is not right with God-- in other words, their relationship with God needs to be sorted out first, before following any “rule” can take place.

I am in my 20’s and have met many fallen Catholics, who either have turned their backs completely away from God or have joined other Christian faiths. Many of them mentioned that the “rules” were hardly explained to them in a faith perspective, but more about “rules.” One lady that I know who is around my parents’ ages left the Church years ago because she thought the Church was a lot about “rules” instead of faith. Even God does not want us to have blind obedience or faith, it says so in the Bible.

What do we do? As someone who does abstain on Fridays and have been doing so for a few weeks now, I came to this decision because I wanted to visibly see an action of sacrifice. Many people find sacrifice to much to bear, but abstaining from meat on Fridays is a small price to pay compared to the ultimate Sacrifice. I have also been doing Bible studies, incorporating prayer more often in my life, and have been taking conscious and willing decisions to be more aware of my faith. I am learning so much now, and I think I am doing so because I am making a conscious and faith-filled choice. There is no way I could have learned what I am learning now if I just followed the rules grudgingly with an impure heart, or just did it to “see where it goes.” My husband is cradle Catholic and will not abstain on Fridays, even though I have pointed out to him that according to Church teaching, we are to do so. I have learned that lecturing him will never work, or telling him what a sinner he is won’t work, or using forms of psychological coercion will not work. Instead, I am going to abide by what the Bible says for a wife to do “Likewise, you wives should be subordinate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct when they observe your reverent and chaste behavior.” 1 Peter 3. It will be more useful for me to continue abstaining and having him be aware of that, than trying to convince him to do so and then have him be resentful or crabby.

I also abstain from meat on Fridays as a witness to others. I am close acquaintances with a girl who was raised Christian but does not practice the faith in her life and has made some choices as a young adult that are not consistent with being raised Christian. However, I don’t use that as a selling point. We have gone out to dinner a few times and they’ve usually been on Fridays-- I make it a point to ask for whatever meatless dishes are served.

I was also taught that the Faith was filled with sacraments, and actions that were sacramental-- in other words, a “visible sign.” Abstaining from meat is a visible sign for me.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

I believe that fasting and abstinence are not mandatory after 65 years of age.

I disagree…I think you are right on the fasting but the abstinence has no age limit.

 

[CMatt25]

I disagree…I think you are right on the fasting but the abstinence has no age limit.

At one time between the ages 21 and 59 were told they were required to fast. Over the age of 14 were told they had to abstain. Might have changed a bit. Not sure.

 

[achmafooma]

Found on the USCCB web site:

c. 1252: All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

So, after age 14 (15+) are bound by the law of abstinence…no upper limit. The law of fast applies through age 59, and stops once one turns 60.

God bless you!

 

[anonymous_in_fl]

I abstain from eating meat on all Fridays throughout the year.
I do it as a sacrifice.

 

[daeve]

Found on the USCCB web site:

So, after age 14 (15+) are bound by the law of abstinence…no upper limit. The law of fast applies through age 59, and stops once one turns 60.

God bless you!

The beginning of your 60th year is your 59th birthday. I turned 60 last September. My entire choir – all of whom are younger – had a lot of fun about me being too old to fast. We’ve since acquired a musician who is about 8 years older than me. We plan to harass them young’uns this year.

There are also provisions for people with medical conditions who aren’t able to fast. I’m diabetic, and have never had a problem with fasting. I still fast from midnight on Saturday until after Mass on Sunday. It had changed to 3 hours when I made my First Communion, but my mother still did midnight of the night before, so…

As for 3pm Chaplet, I’m at work at 3pm (not today of course because it’s a holiday) but I say it and a decade of the Rosary on my way home every day.

 

[JM3]

papalencyclicals.net/Paul06/p6paen.htm

‘Therefore, the Church, while preserving – where it can be more readily observed – the custom (observed for many centuries with canonical norms) of practicing penitence also through abstinence from meat and fasting, intends to ratify with its prescriptions other forms of penitence as well, provided that it seems opportune to episcopal conferences to replace the observance of fast and abstinence with exercises of prayer and works of charity.’

'Therefore, the following is declared and established:

I. 1. By divine law all the faithful are required to do penance.’

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

As for 3pm Chaplet, I’m at work at 3pm (not today of course because it’s a holiday) but I say it and a decade of the Rosary on my way home every day.

That’s a good idea…I’m going to try that. I usually ride in with my husband and I read the morning prayers…but he’s on a business trip this week so I was wondering what to do…

 

[CMatt25]

Found on the USCCB web site:

So, after age 14 (15+) are bound by the law of abstinence…no upper limit. The law of fast applies through age 59, and stops once one turns 60.

God bless you!

Age 14 and 1 day is not after age 14?

 

[Sherry_G]

I choose to abstain from eating meat on all Fridays as it truly does bring Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross to the forefront of my mind. If I am in a situation such as being an invited guest to someone’s home for dinner on a Friday night, I will not refuse to eat meat if it is served, however, most people who know me well realize that I abstain from meat on Fridays and would not serve it or offer a substitute. My extended non-Catholic family seems to worry about this since I attach such importance to it

Regarding fasting during Lent, I believe that age in and of itself is not a real deciding factor, but a benchmark only. As our parish priest pointed out, there are many people in the parish who are well above 60, who still maintain a very active and vigorous lifestyle and are in perfectly good health. I am soon to be 65 but will observe the Lenten fast, praising Him that I am healthy enough for it, too.

 

[I_Thirst]

I abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year to remind myself of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for me. The only time I observe an alternate penance is when I’m dining at friends and know that they don’t follow this practice. I’ll still go meatless for breakfast and lunch, but I’ll add in a penance for the dinner hour.

 

[achmafooma]

Age 14 and 1 day is not after age 14?

I interpreted that to mean once one is no longer of the age 14 (age 14 and 1 day is still during age 14).

Don’t rely on my interpretation I’m still new here (coming up on my 2nd anniversary as a Catholic). When I was 14/15 I was a Methodist so I wasn’t too concerned with when the Catholic abstinence rules took effect!

God bless you!

 

[spunjalebi]

I don’t understand why there is a focus on age. It starts to become a point of legalism if something like that is paid too much attention.

I have met people who followed the abstaining from meat on Fridays practice even when they were small. These were people who were raised in Catholic families, and didn’t take age into consideration. After all, when Jews celebrate with a Seder meal, they don’t care how old you are to have the herbs and meat. In fact, it has to be the youngest person to ask the question about Passover as well.