Tuesdays traditionally a day of fasting?

[bennie]

I was at a talk the other day and the speaker mentioned that in the early church, Tuesdays were a day of penance (in addition to Fridays).

This seemed to explain why we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, but why was Tuesday (as opposed to Monday, Wednesday, etc.) also reserved for penance?

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I was at a talk the other day and the speaker mentioned that in the early church, Tuesdays were a day of penance (in addition to Fridays).

This seemed to explain why we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, but why was Tuesday (as opposed to Monday, Wednesday, etc.) also reserved for penance?

As far as I know it isn’t.

In my Order it is Wednesdays and Fridays, Also the Eastern Churches treat Wednesdays and Fridays as days of abstinence during Great Lent.

 

[MarkThompson]

According to this EWTN article, “[t]he early Church had a practice of a Wednesday and Saturday fast.”

 

[catharina]

You might be seeking info about Ember Days,
common among all western Catholics prior to the late 1960s.

Look up “Ember Days.”

 

[josephdaniel29]

I don’t think so. The Didache, one of the earliest pieces of canonical literature in the Church, prescribes fasting on Wednesday and Friday.

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).

Link

Link

 

[ciero]

Wednesday & Friday are and were days of fasting. Saturdays we in the East are forbidden to fast.

 

[5Loaves]

As far as I know it isn’t.

In my Order it is Wednesdays and Fridays, Also the Eastern Churches treat Wednesdays and Fridays as days of abstinence during Great Lent.

My EC parish keeps the Wednesdays and Fridays fast (abstinence, no meat dairy, eggs, wine, olive oil) throughout the year, with some exceptions such as fast free weeks, the most recent being the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee. During Great Lent we fast (abstain) from the start of Great Lent (Meatfare Sunday Vespers) forward til Pascha, with fish allowed on the Annunciation, when fasting is prohibited, and oil and wine permitted on weekends.

 

[bennie]

Thank you very much for all of your answers! It seems that the speaker misspoke. I will be sure to look up the sources you listed for further reading.

I guess that still leaves me with the question regarding the Rosary: Why are the Glorious Mysteries to be prayed on Wednesday, if that is a traditional day of fasting?