Traditional Lenten Fast

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belgianwaffles9

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I have read some conflicting reports on the internet about what the lenten fast USED to look like before the novus ordo. I want it all cleared up, and i figured this was the place to come.

So: as of now, this is the info i seem to be getting: Mon-Thurs, fasting & partial abstinence (1 main meal, 2 small snacks/meals that do not equal 1 meal; meat with only the main meal). Fri-Sat, fasting and total abstinence (1 meal, 2 small, no meat at all).

Is this accurate? I sometimes see references to a completely meatless lent for all 40 days. Was this ever true? (I know the European “carnivale” on Shrove Tuesday comes from the latin for “farewell, meat”)

So what fast should i be following if i want to try the traditional Catholic lenten fast?

THANKS, & God Bless
 
I have a calendar that I bought online which is laid out for the all the pre-Vatican II traditions, including the complete calendar of feast days for the 1962 missal.

It shows fasting for everyday except Sunday…during Lent, that is. It shows abstinence from meat on Fridays of the entire year, and during Lent, a partial abstinence on Ember Wednesday and Ember Saturday: 2/13/08 and 2/16/08. In fact, all Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays, along with the Vigil of Pentecost, have a partial abstinence from meat.

Yes, fasting is one full meal, with the allowance for two smaller meals/snacks --meatless-- that, together, do not equal a full meal. No munching on anything between the meals.
 
belgianwaffles9 said:
I have read some conflicting reports on the internet about what the lenten fast USED to look like before the novus ordo. I want it all cleared up, and i figured this was the place to come.

So: as of now, this is the info i seem to be getting: Mon-Thurs, fasting & partial abstinence (1 main meal, 2 small snacks/meals that do not equal 1 meal; meat with only the main meal). Fri-Sat, fasting and total abstinence (1 meal, 2 small, no meat at all).

Is this accurate? I sometimes see references to a completely meatless lent for all 40 days. Was this ever true? (I know the European “carnivale” on Shrove Tuesday comes from the latin for “farewell, meat”)

So what fast should i be following if i want to try the traditional Catholic lenten fast?

THANKS, & God Bless
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The first bit (Fri-Sat, fasting and total abstinence (1 meal, 2 small, no meat at all) was the regulation of the 1917 Code of Canon law.

I’m slightly confused as to why some Traditional Catholics use the sequence that you gave above. The way I had read it, the partial abstinence was a concession granted to the United States yet the concession (which was there even before the Code) of not treating Saturday as a complete abstinence day in the USA is not mentioned.

The 40 day fast used to theoretically be in effect before the Code but in practise was dispensed with nearly everywhere.
 
]I have read some conflicting reports on the internet about what the lenten fast USED to look like before the novus ordo. I want it all cleared up, and i figured this was the place to come.

So: as of now, this is the info i seem to be getting: Mon-Thurs, fasting & partial abstinence (1 main meal, 2 small snacks/meals that do not equal 1 meal; meat with only the main meal). Fri-Sat, fasting and total abstinence (1 meal, 2 small, no meat at all).

👍 That’s it:thumbsup:

Is this accurate? I sometimes see references to a completely meatless lent for all 40 days. Was this ever true? (I know the European “carnivale” on Shrove Tuesday comes from the latin for “farewell, meat”)

@@@@@

You can make it all meatless, if you want to, and you have worked out with your Priest and/or Spiritual Director that you are indeed doing this for the right reason, and not to feel “holier then thou”.

And yes, it used to be meatless, many centuries ago. Some would add no eggs, dairy, or oil. “The Black Fast”. I have a book from the 19th Century that mentions only one small meal, not two.

At that, the one small meal was added when the formerly one and only meal was moved from sunset to Nones (3 PM) and finally to Sext (noon).

@@@@@@@

So what fast should i be following if i want to try the traditional Catholic lenten fast?

@@@ Your second paragraph had it right. Again, there is nothing wrong with doing even more, provided you clear it with your Priest and/or Spiritual Director to make sure you are doing it for the proper motives.

And in my case, at age 63 (fasting even if not required to), I had a checkup with my Physician, and a set of guidlines to prevent me from overdoing it and damaging The Temple Of The Holy Apirit

THANKS, & God Bless.

As always, just my OPINIONS, not endorsed by my cats
 
Andreas_Hofer said:
IIRC, the old law was abstinence at 7 and fasting at 21, now it’s abstinence at 14 and fasting at 18.
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Thank you. But why did they change it from 21 to 18? It seems to conflict with the liberal agenda that the Post VII church has taken. For example they seem to have become less strict in most other areas. But why more strict here?
 
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