Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-03-04
In the Days of Lent;
About Dancing and Giving Dinners.

These are days of Lent, when-gc-
cordlng to dehnition-prayer, fasting,
meditation and good works should pre-
vail, but perhaps the more modern and
material world of today (and how mate.
rial we are to be sure, places a different
construction upon the time honored for
mula. In society, at least, Lent seems to
have a different meaning now from what
it had even a few years ago. and |
leave the churches out of the question.
for their regulations, / believe, have not
changed. Very few people fast, and only
those who are engaged i'll spiritual works
grasp the distinction between going al
most altogether without food and only
abStalmnS from meat twice or three
times a week.
Fasting was wont to mean the eating
Of only one full meal Il day which in
ancient times was done Mt midday, AID
the two light reflections allowed-one in
the morning, the other i'll the evening
cOrrespOnded to breakfast and supper.
On veritable fast days, such as Wednes-
days, Fridays and Ember days, no meat
could be eaten, and on other occasions
one could not have both meat and fish mt
the same meal. This rule is still OBJ
served In converts and religious com
munities-indeed By clerics generally in
the denominations where fasting and alb
stinence are practced-but otherwise is
little regarded.
On the other hand it is now somewhat
of fad, especially with those who are
anxious to bring down their avoirdupOis.
to help rheumatism or TO correct some
other real or imaginary ailment, to live
on skim milk and baked apples or on a
vegetable diet, with little meat We have
not yet reached the sackcioth and ashes
stage, but so many of us 90 in training
for various reasons that we do not see
the hardship in fasting which was so
dreadful to our ancestors, and we have
a little habit of getting away from town
in March to disport in raiment of light
texture somewhere In a tropic land.
1t is considered bad fOrm-I am treat.
ing this entirely from worldly point Of
vIew-to dance in Lent, so that in this
respect the season has come to an abrupt
end. But for those who remain in town,
in addition to dinners in plenty-there
are musicales, bridge, and this year roller
skating and dear old badminton. For
some inexplicable reason the opera and
the theater do not seem to come under
the ban of worldly amusements. They
did in the last century, when Roman
Catholics and High Church EPISCOPAL
ans would never go to either from Ash
Wednesday to Easter Monday. bat there
are only a few who remain faithful To
these ideas in this age.
In giving dinners ii is well to rcmpm-
l'EI 80 III Ahli%t as near as possible not 10
have mixture Of fish and meat when
you have guests who keep Lent. nor. ur-
less extremely informally. it is well to
ask such to dine with y0u on Wedure-
days and Fridays. The first course is
always puzzling-I mean the hor4
d'oeuvres. You must not have oysters or
caviar, or crab canapes. IL YOU are eu-
ing 10 have a meat dinner 1t is also
difficult TO skip a fish course. but after
all your abStaining friends need not par
take if they are to have meat 10 follow
As / have said before. there are 50 many
people who eat very little on account of
dietary reasons. that no one pays any at
tenti0n as TO whether guest accepts OF
refuses q pr0Fcred dish. and then / he
leve that Just at present there are some
faddsts who are protesting against the
high price II meat by refusing to partlke
Of il at all.-YOgUe
=0-.-c-
Well-Informed Persons
Generally Inquisitive.