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Why not do as some Byzantines do for Presanctified Liturgy during Great Lent? Start right after you have your lunch.

BOB

In regards to the Wensday and Friday Abstinance is it reduced portions or not?

Altar Server:

Abstinance refers to what you give up. Fasting refers to the whole process where you limit portions and eat or drink nothing between meals.

Traditionally, on a fasting day, one did not eat before noon--from the previous evening's meal. So Friday meant that one had a very light something to eat around noon and had had nothing to eat from Thursday evening's dinner.

The Indult of 1895 for the United States gave us the idea that we could have two small meals not to equal the full dinner in the evening. This was to give a break to working men in a Protestant culture where they were engaged in heavy labor and the traditional fasts were very difficult to keep. In some Catholic countries fasting was similar to Orthodox practice: one meal in a fasting day.

The point is that you can take this up with little outward stress--even if you're in a family situation where no one else is fasting. Have a small breakfast and lunch and eat dinner with the rest of the family as usual. Try to get fish introduced on then menu twice a week.

It's important to remember why we fast on those days--Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday is the day Tradition says Judas sold the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. We fast in solidarity with Him on that day. Friady is the day He gave Himself up for us, to take our guilt and sin, to open Heaven for us. We fast in solidarity with Him then, too. So if we can't fast negatively, we fast positivley--we remember those events and make a positive mental commitment to avoid selling Him out by sin.

There are some interesting historical documents that used to speak of weighing eggs, for example. That sort of legalism is a bit much today. Best to be careful when adopting your discipline. It's very easy to become legalistic and fall into the sin of presumption--thinking we are doing something great or looking down on those who do not adopt our discipline. Best to adopt something that can be sustained and be balanced with POSITIVE fasting--some extra time in prayer and Scripture or spiritual reading under the direction of one's spiritual father.

In Christ,

BOB

Let me give you an example.

My ancestors used to work on a farm from dawn to dusk. They ate three huge, cooked meals a day. Breakfast was a half dozen eggs, half a pound of bacon, and about eight pancakes. Then midday was a full meal with meat, potatoes, vegetables, and a dessert. Dinner in the evening was same as midday.

If I ate that way for two days, you'd have to roll me through the doors. I don't do hard physical, manual labor and don't burn calories off that way.

Breakfast for me is a cup of oatmeal and a piece of dry toast during fasting with a glass of water. Lunch is a PB&J sandwich with a banana. Dinner is whatever is set before me, usually a regular American dinner--protein, starch, vegetable, salad, and dessert. That is considered fasting for many--no meat all day and a reduced pair of meals during the day. Nothing to drink or eat between meals, even water.

BOB

The Rule of St. Benedict (chapter 49 [osb.org]) specifies that the monk should do some extra penance during Lent, but only with the approval of the abbot.


What St. Benedict says about the monk is really true for all Christians. Of course as laypeople we don't have an abbot, but it is wise to discuss our plans for fasting and abstinence with a confessor or spiritual father to avoid excess and ensure healthy moderation, avoiding the risk of "presumption and vainglory."

thanks

How many Orthodox actually keep the fast strictly? Is it worth actually trying to impose a strict fast on the Latin Church if those of the east don't even bother to keep theirs devoutly? We RC's have enough problems getting people to follow the already established rules and regulations that we already have without adding more on for our faithful to ignor?

Christ is Risen!!

I don't think the point is imposing a fasting regimen of one Church on another. The point is fasting iteself--limiting what we eat in order to be able to resist the impulse to sin in other areas.

The Desert Fathers had a comment about this. When one old man was asked about fasting, he said that at one point he had fasted for two and three days at a time--nothing to eat or drink. But they found that eating a little each day and not allowing themselves to be full at any time was not only a lighter burden, but more easy to follow, and avoided the excess of gorging after a couple day fast.

I think the lesson is right there. Passing up the "grazing" that so many do all day at their offices is one way to get started--just eat at regular meal times. Or avoid the constant intake of caffeine. (I can relate to that since at one point in my career it seemed I couldn't function without about 16 cups of coffee a day--though I walked around "wired" all the time.)

I think the whole area was hinted at above when it was suggested that one start out slowly. It's like the people who go to the gym and think they've got to run the treadmill at full speed right from the start and wonder why they're shot after a minute or two. One ought to build up slowly--ten minutes at a walk, adding minutes and increments of speed over months. The other problem is our "do it yourself" mentality springing from that "rugged individualism" that Americans so prize. This journey is not a solo one and it's not to be done without guides--one's spiritual father.

BOB

Lack of tradition in the Latin church??? They have the papacy!