Wednesday Fasting

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Does anyone know when Wednesday fasting started to fade from the Latin Church? The early Church, as recorded as early as the Didache, practiced fasting every Wednesday and Friday. This practice continues among our Eastern Catholic and Orthodox brethren. A remnant of Wednesday fasting still exists in the Latin tradition as evidenced by Ash Wednesday and the Wednesdays during Ember Days (if one still follows the pre-Vatican II EF calendar).
 
The old Catholic Encyclopedia states the following:
In the United States of America all the days of Lent; the Fridays of Advent (generally); the Ember Days; the vigils of Christmas and Pentecost, as well as those (14 Aug.) of the Assumption; (31 Oct.) of All Saints, are now fasting days. In Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and Canada, the days just indicated, together with the Wednesdays of Advent and (28 June) the vigil of Saints Peter and Paul, are fasting days.
newadvent.org/cathen/05789c.htm
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That suggests that even as recently as the early 20th century there was still a much stronger sense of Wednesdays being penitential days.
 
I’ve wondered about this myself. Hopefully someone can give us a history lesson.
 
My priest holds regular confession times on Wednesday and Friday, specifically because those are the traditional days of penance.
 
MrZoom said:
My priest holds regular confession times on Wednesday and Friday, specifically because those are the traditional days of penance.
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That’s great :). Yes there is definitely still a sense in the Latin Church that Wednesdays are days of penance, but it is greatly diminished. I wonder why Wednesday fasting faded so dramatically in the West…
 
I was aware of this but now I’m thinking, why Wednesdays?:confused:
 
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