Lenten Fasting and Abstinence -  A Refresher



Every year there is some degree of confusion about what is expected of Catholics during the Lenten season, particularly the law of the Church regarding fasting and abstinence. The terms themselves can become mixed up. Here is a brief reminder of the basics.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the Forty days of Lent is not a holy day of obligation. Even so, understandably many Catholics like to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday as a way of starting this holy season on a good footing. Although it is not a holy day of obligation as far as attending Mass goes, it is (together with Good Friday) an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence for all Catholics aged between 18-59 (presuming they are in normal good health). Abstinence here refers to refraining from eating meat (with the exception of fish/seafood). Fasting, as defined by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, means limiting one’s food intake to no more than one normal sized meal and up to two small snacks which put together would not amount to a full meal. All other snacking throughout the day is prohibited. Note too, that the fasting refers to the restriction of food, not drink. Remaining properly hydrated is a matter of necessary health, whereas abstaining from food presents a low health risk in ordinary circumstances.

Needless to say, this is a broad guide that takes into account the fact that people have widely varying nutritional requirements depending upon age, occupation, health condition and other variables. Rather than resorting to ‘calorie counting’ perhaps the best guide to fasting is to find oneself sufficiently hungry throughout the day that it constitutes a real sacrifice, one that actively helps to recall the season we have begun. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (which effectively ‘bookend’ the season of Lent) are the only two days of obligatory fasting and abstinence. Catholics aged 14 and older should abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Those under 14 or over 59 are not technically required to abstain and fast on these days - allowing for the immaturity of children, and the potential for a weakened health condition for senior citizens. That said, the law of the Church sets a bare minimum for fasting and abstinence.

Those who feel that they can go beyond the rather meagre demands of the law are of course welcome to rise to the challenge. For example we can choose to abstain from other culinary pleasures: desserts, alcoholic beverages, coffee, chocolate, etc. Fr Walter Ciszek in his auto-biography With God in Russia recalls how as a teenager growing up in America he would only eat bread and water for the whole of Lent, as a sacrifice and a personal challenge. Looking back he could see how these acts of self-discipline and sacrifice prepared him for the extraordinary privations and prolonged hunger that he would later experience as a political prisoner in Communist Russia. When one considers the law of fasting and abstinence traditionally observed by Orthodox Christians, Catholics might feel a little embarrassed by their ‘soft’ approach to fasting. It is the practice in many of the orthodox Churches to abstain from meat, fish, dairy products, oil, and wine for the entire duration of Lent, with the exception of the Annunciation (25^th March) and Palm Sunday when they are permitted to eat fish.

What about Fridays in Lent?
All Catholics aged 14 and over should abstain from meat on every Friday of the year, including the Fridays of Lent. In Australia the bishops have permitted the Church’s universal observance of Friday abstinence from meat to be substituted with another form of penance, either in prayer, fasting or almsgiving. Consequently many Catholics are under the impression that the Church abolished the immemorial practice of Friday abstinence from meat, without any attempt to find a suitable penance to undertake in its place. Personally, I find it easier to simply observe the Friday abstinence, rather than having to come up with an alternative penance (the only exception is if I’m a guest at a dinner and it becomes awkward not to eat the food prepared by my host!). Even if you have fallen out of the custom of abstaining from meat on Fridays this can be a great discipline to resume this Lent.

What is the point of abstaining from meat on Fridays?
Just as every Sunday is a commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ (a ‘mini Easter’ so to speak) every Friday is a commemoration of the Passion of Christ (like a ‘mini Good Friday’). By abstaining from meat it helps to build an awareness of the penitential character of each Friday and this prompts us to recall Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross, remembering that the Last Supper was the last meal that Jesus had until His resurrection on Easter Sunday.   

What are we permitted to eat on days of abstinence?
Fish and seafood have historically been caught wild, rather than being farmed. Consequently fish has until recent times been viewed as the cheap protein source for the poor, since anyone with access to a sea, lake or river could catch a free meal. Domestic livestock, such as cattle, sheep and pigs were generally seen as the food source of the wealthy, since they were relatively costly to produce. As such, red meat like beef, lamb and pork were historically a luxury item considered more suitable for feast days, and therefore improper for penitential days in the Church’s calendar. There is a culturally relative aspect to this observance, that requires us to pay attention to the spirit of the law. In previous centuries the poor would collect oysters and shellfish from the seashore for a free meal – they were not considered delicacies. Going to a fancy restaurant on Good Friday and ordering the seafood banquet with a dozen oysters for the entrée is observing the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law! The point of the law of abstinence is to cultivate a sense of self-denial, in honour of Christ whose entire life was one of self-denial culminating in the sacrifice of Good Friday.
To this end it’s worth remembering that fasting and abstinence are a means not an end. They serve to teach us the practice of mortification – literally ‘dying to ourselves’ – by being able to deny our natural appetites. In a culture that is increasingly hedonistic and self-indulgent, it is perhaps especially important for us to cultivate that authentically Christian spirit of self-denial that Christ Himself exemplifies as the path to self-donation.