Traditional Fasting during Lent?

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lucybeebee

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Does anyone follow the old fasting patterns for Lent (ie fasting and partial abstinence M-TH, total abstinence and fasting F-S)? How can one do this sucessfully? I have difficulty with fasting and get tired easily, so I would like some advice on this matter.
 
lucybeebee said:
Does anyone follow the old fasting patterns for Lent (ie fasting and partial abstinence M-TH, total abstinence and fasting F-S)? How can one do this sucessfully? I have difficulty with fasting and get tired easily, so I would like some advice on this matter.
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How old is that fasting pattern? I never heard of that custom.
 
Are you sure you’re meant to fast on the Saturday too? I thought it was Wednesday and Friday, not Friday-Saturday.

(Not that I’m saying I’m an expert, it’s just I heard differently…)
 
lucybeebee said:
It’s pre-Vatican II, though I don’t know when exactly it changed to the current regulations.
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It has to be way back. I asked my mother, who is 76, and she doesn’t ever remember having that severe a fast.
 
I get tired easily at the beginning of a fast but after a few days that wears off - so long as I drink plenty of water. I think the rotating between full/partial fast would make that even worse…starting over and over again with being tired at the beginning.
 
Fast for 40 days but Sundays are non-fast days during Lent. One could have two small meals and one full meal a day and no snacking. The two small meals can not be more than the one full meal. That is what I have always done during Lent.
 
Sword_Brethren said:
Fast for 40 days but Sundays are non-fast days during Lent. One could have two small meals and one full meal a day and no snacking. The two small meals can not be more than the one full meal. That is what I have always done during Lent.
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I’ve always been confused as to how to determine how small the small meals/snacks should be. Any suggestions?
 
If one added the two small meals together, they can not be more than the one full meal. I think the two small meals can equal the one full meal.
 
Many churches that are not Latin rite still have fasting periods before the Nativity of Christ. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bit of research would turn up that the Latins did this as well, and not too far in the past either.
 
In the Confraternity of Penitents we fast according to the guidelines of the Church from November 12 up to Christmas and all through Lent. That is, we take one meal a day (which may be divided into 2 parts, a greater and a lesser).

Throughout the year we fast and abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. Except for Solemnities, we take meat only on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays.

At first glance, it sounds intense, but it’s really not a big deal.
 
lucybeebee said:
Does anyone follow the old fasting patterns for Lent (ie fasting and partial abstinence M-TH, total abstinence and fasting F-S)? How can one do this sucessfully? I have difficulty with fasting and get tired easily, so I would like some advice on this matter.
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don’t fast at all if you have health issues, without your doctors permission.

fast from things, actions, words, and other pursuits instead of food, esp. from anything that is hampering your performance of your daily duties or your relationships with God and others.

I am a traditional CAtholic (that means I am older than V2) and I don’t remember any pattern such as you suggest. I’m not old enough to have totally lost my memory, and have in fact been observing fast and abstinence laws as I learned them in my long-ago youth for most of my life, except in periods of illness or pregnancy.
 
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