Traditionalist Lenten Practices

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garysibio

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My wife, who is not on CAF, had a question that raised my curiosity also. I suppose there is no one answer to this, it might vary from person to person.

Do Traditionalists tend to use the current Church practices regarding fasting and abstinence during Lent or do they use the ones in effect before Vatican II? Also, how about the fast before Mass? Do you use the one hour, three hour or nothing after midnight practice?

Just curious.
 
I’m going to say many traditionalists use pre V 2 practices. That means no meat for next 40 days, except Sundays and St. Patrick’s Day (depending). For fasting, I try not to eat after midnight, but this is true for all days of the week. It is difficult to adhere always, because our TLM is not until 12:30 pm and that means up to six hours of fasting after waking.

On the flip side, I do not usually add anything extra for Lent, which is a good practice.
 
Warrenton said:
I’m going to say many traditionalists use pre V 2 practices. That means no meat for next 40 days, except Sundays and St. Patrick’s Day (depending). For fasting, I try not to eat after midnight, but this is true for all days of the week. It is difficult to adhere always, because our TLM is not until 12:30 pm and that means up to six hours of fasting after waking.

On the flip side, I do not usually add anything extra for Lent, which is a good practice.
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Thanks for the response. Before posting the question I did a little digging to refresh my mind on what the pre-Vatican II practice was. Your comment about no meat confuses me. I don’t remember the pre-Vatican II practice as including no meat for Lent - no meat on Fridays obviously but that applied outside of Lent also, of course - unless you go back to the Middle Ages. Fasting for all of Lent, yes, but not abstinence. Do you have a source showing that we were to abstain for all of Lent?
 
I’m not sure why “Warrenton” stated that during Lent meat is abstained from for forty days. Maybe he is going back really far in time when no flesh (meat or fish), no dairy products (cheese, eggs, milk) were allowed. People must have been of tougher stock than we. The laws of fast prior to VII indicated that meat could be consumed once a day, except for Fridays & Ash Wednesday when the laws of abstinence were also included. Fasting was also limited to grown adults and those under retirement age. Abstinence was to be observed by all baptized Catholics over the age of reason, generally 7 years of age. Some people may be confused about all of this, or they prefer the stricter interpretations. Today Canon Law requires abstinence on all Fridays, not just during Lent. However it also provides for other forms of penance to be substituted for abstinence.
 
greenmoira said:
I’m not sure why “Warrenton” stated that during Lent meat is abstained from for forty days. Maybe he is going back really far in time when no flesh (meat or fish), no dairy products (cheese, eggs, milk) were allowed. People must have been of tougher stock than we. The laws of fast prior to VII indicated that meat could be consumed once a day, except for Fridays & Ash Wednesday when the laws of abstinence were also included. Fasting was also limited to grown adults and those under retirement age. Abstinence was to be observed by all baptized Catholics over the age of reason, generally 7 years of age. Some people may be confused about all of this, or they prefer the stricter interpretations. Today Canon Law requires abstinence on all Fridays, not just during Lent. However it also provides for other forms of penance to be substituted for abstinence.
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The Orthodox still hold to the ancient Fast. 👍

In Christ,
Andrew
 
mattkubes said:
And it’s true - Christians used to abstain from meat from Ash Wednesday until Easter. They wouldn’t even have it on Sundays during Lent.
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Well, not just meat - all animal products, including milk, eggs, butter, etc. That kinda helps explain the significance of giving Easter eggs a little more…I’d be happy to have an egg by then too!
 
I pretty much follow what Wareenton describes. But being an “old duffer” I don’t really have to do anything. I do it because so many folks do nothing and I try to offer this up for their souls.
 
Harpazo said:
The Orthodox still hold to the ancient Fast. 👍

In Christ,
Andrew
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As do many of us Eastern Catholics. And our Fast (abstinence) is also longer than 40 days. I personally think our fasts are one of the great gifts of our praxis, Orthodox or Eastern Catholic. 👍
 
garysibio said:
Thanks for the response. Before posting the question I did a little digging to refresh my mind on what the pre-Vatican II practice was. Your comment about no meat confuses me. I don’t remember the pre-Vatican II practice as including no meat for Lent - no meat on Fridays obviously but that applied outside of Lent also, of course - unless you go back to the Middle Ages. Fasting for all of Lent, yes, but not abstinence. Do you have a source showing that we were to abstain for all of Lent?
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Back in the 19th Century everywhere in the word Lent was fast and abstinence from meat for everyone. As a matter of fact for Protestants too: there was no meat: there were no freezers, and the pig was over, the chickens were not big enough yet to eat. Catholics abstained form bacon and ham too, but no big difference.

In Hungary the fast and no meat was kept until 1942, other countries abandoned it earlier, most during WWI.

As for the sacramental fast, legally only the one hour is required for everyone, regardless of the rite. The fast from midnight was strictly connected to the ‘no Mass after noon’ rule. Since most of the TLM’s start after noon, I believe maximum the 3 hours rule is kept by the traditionalists.
 
I would say that many traditionalists do try to follow the traditional Lenten fast, but by no means all. Calendars that are printed with the 1962 liturgical calendar almost always include the traditional fasting/abstinence regulations. Most priests in EF churches will actively encourage people to keep the former Lenten discipline voluntarily, but will also tell them that only the current fasting/abstinence regulations are binding under pain of mortal sin. Same thing for the Eucharistic fast: one hour is the minimum, but three hours (often recommended for evening Masses) or from midnight is encouraged.
 
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