The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-03-14
HOW THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
OBSERVED LENT.
Comparative Laxity of Modern Days

OBSERVED LENT.
Comparative Laxity of Modern Days.
I'm "The Irish Ecclesiastical Rec
ORD" some time ago Rev. P. S. Norris
roe, D. D., of Maynooth College, writ
ing of "The Quadragesimal Fast"
shows how much we have in this mat
ter degenerated from the rigorous
practice of those early Christians who
subsisted each day of Lent on single
meal, using neither meat, eggs nor
milk products during the entire peni-
tential season, and often denying
themselves the cup of water that
would only allay the pangs of the crav-
ing palate.
Primitive Rules.
The essence of the primitive fast
consisted, he says, in a solitary meal
of meagre fare which should not be
taken before a certain hour-attention
in the latter detail was not of less
consequence than due regard for the
former This seems to have been the
universal rule But cases are record
ed where individuals practised auster-
tiles to a degree that borders on the
heroic. The pilgrim Etheria, in re-
counting her experiences at Jerusalem
in the fourth century, states that there
was a class of penitents there who
subsisted for the eight weeks pre-
r0no1c On1U
in each week, taken on the Saturday
and Sunday. The regular canonical
hour for breaking the fast was, in the
beginning, after the vesperal Office
and for those who did not attend this
function, about the time when it usu-
ally began.
MiIder Regulations.
From this general rule and canoni-
cal regulation departures were in
dulged in even at an early date. The
"Doctrina Apostolorum' and the "Con-
stitutiones Apostolicae," mention ex-
ceptions where the meal was taken at
the hour of None" and the Emperor
Charlemagne, in the ninth century, is
said to have introduced the custom of
anticipating Vespers so that, this Of
| flee being over, his court might dine
at a more convenient hour. The
strings of rigid discipline being thus
relaxed, what was an innovation at
first soon came to have the sanction
and approval necessary to establish it
as the universal law. And so it was.
For we have st. Thomas, in the thir-
teenth century, defending as lawful
the practice of those who, from mo-
tives of convenience, took the solitary
meal "circa horam nonam." And since
this hour came to mean either three
or one in the afternoon, and was,
moreover, to be determined not mathe-
matically, but rather according to
common estimation, it will cause no
surprise to find it after a little still
further advanced. The celebrated
ton, accordingly taught, in the thir-
teenth century, that the fast might
be broken at noon, since the hour was
really not of the essence of the thing.
This doctrine was carried into practice
in the subsequent centuries, and we
find it adopted by Cardinal Cajetan
and ST. Charles Borromeo.
This same teaching st. Liguori ap-
proved. He even went further and
asserted that, though the meal could
be taken at midday with safe con-
science, even this hour might be an.
ticipated, but not "notabiliter sine
Causa" 1t was during the progress
of this relaxation that the custom OF
saying Vespers at noon was intro
duced, the idea being that by this de
vice the old traditional rule about the
hour of the rejection might still be
preserved intact, at least in the letter,
if not in the spirit.
The advancement of the meal from
evening to noon paved the way for
more relaxations 1t was soon felt
that it was too severe test of human
endurance to subsist without food for
the rest of the day. To relieve the
strain various eXpedients were tried
At first drinks of water, which were
not permitted in the ancient regime
were taken, then wine, and finally
liquid food. Traces of this habit are
referred to in a Council of Aix-la
Chapelle (817) and in the Regulations
of Religious Orders. st. Thomas es
tablished the thesis that 'potus non
frangit jejunium," and Benedict XIV
recognized this teaching. But since
the usual evening "hautus" consisted
as rule of wine, and since liquid OF
this kind has often an injurious effect
upon an empty stomach, so theologi
ans introduced another principle tc