The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-20
WHO is OBLIGED TO FAST?

"Amst fast?" is a question thai
StirS the conscience Of every Catholic
about this time Of the year, writes
Rev. w. d. O'Brien in Extension
Annually. we hear the Lenten regula
lions read in our churches, and &C
away wondering at the general terms
in which the laws Of fasting are pro
mulgated.
The practice of fasting is as old as
humanity, and God Himself was the
first to authorize it when He com
manded Adam to abstain from the
fruit of a certain tree. In LeVitlcus
chapter 9, we read that certain meats
We're forbidden to the Jews. Moses
and Ehas-were present at Our Lord
TRANSPORTATION on Mount Tabor, be-
cause they alone Of all the Patriarchs
had tasted forty days. John the
Baptist tasted most vigorously, and
Christ himself gave us an example
of fasting that we might follow in His
steps. The Church has much author
ity, therefore, for placing the obli9a
ton of fasting on the people.
The Second Commandment of the
Church is: ITO fast and abstain on
the days appointed -.t
Fasting, strictly, consists in taking
only one full meal day, which must
not be taken before noon, and which
must not include flesh meat. The
law of fasting obligates all who have
attained their tWenty-first year, and
are not otherwise lawfully dispensed
The faithful are ordered to fast on
the forty days of Lent, the Ember
days and the Vigils of certain feasts.
One is said to abstain who does
without flesh meat. The law OF alb
stinence is binding on all the faith
full who have reached the use of rea
son.
We have heard Of the Catholic who
when asked by the nOn-Catholic friend
why he did not eat meat on Friday
replied: "Oh, you know, the Apostles
were fishermen, and wanted to hell
their business" But even the Catho
Tic child can tell you that eve are for
hidden to eat meat on Friday because
I, on that day Our Lord died for us"
The obligation Of abstaining from
flesh meat on Friday is, perhaps, the
most universally accepted restriction
of the Catholic Church in the United
States. Other countries have this
obligation, but, where necessity de
8, mands it, the law is dispensed with
as in Mexico, for example, because O.
climatic conditions.
The Ember days occur four times
year, in what are known as the
quarter lenses" or the four season:
of the year, namely: winter, spring
summer and autumn. The Embel
DAYS of the winter season come tlrS
i'm order because the Churchs Litur
gical Year begins with the first week
of Advent. The Wednesday, Friday
and Saturday of the third week OF
Ia xent-a re=al MaxS- fast aEs-- -I.lh
Fmber days of spring always come
after the first Sunday of Lent; i'll the
summer, in the week after PentecOst
and in the fall, about the third Weel
of September. We are commanded
TO fast on Ember days because, from
oldcn times even to our day, they arr
the appointed seasons for ordination
TO the priesthood, and it is a piou
custom for. the laity to implore Al
mighty God to send good laborers int
His vineyard. Again, we SHOULD
thank God for the blessings received
during the past quarter and implor
His assistance for the coming season
of the year.
The Vigils Of the most prominen
feast days of the Church were former
ly fast days, because the early Chris
tians were accustomed to assembl
on the ewes of great festivals to pas
the night in fasting and praying, afte
the example Of Our Lord. In OH
busy but less religious days the Vigi
of Christmas is the only one that ha
been retained as a night Of prayer, a
though other Vigils than Christina
Eve remain as fast days, particular
Holy Saturday, the Saturday. befor
Pentecost Sunday, and in some die
ceses the eve of the Assumption.
Lent, the forty days from AS
Wednesday to Easter Sunday, const
tutes the principal season of fastin
in the Catholic Church. The Sunday
of the Lenten season are not fastin
days, although we are forbidden t
eat fish and flesh at the same mea
One need not be a theologian now;
days to perceive that the obligatio
of fasting is rarely observed in its Ell
tirety. Generally speaking, the obi
cation Of fasting is incumbent upon a
Christians who have attained the az
of twenty-one years. SpeeificaE
speaking, the obligation binds compa
atively few, because of the applicatio
of the theological principle, that ma
be set forth as follows: Inability
keep the law of fasting and incon
patibility of fasting with the duties {
our state of life, suffice, by their yer
nature, to extinguish the obligation
because as often as the obligation {
positive law proves extremely burdel
some or irksome, the ohligatio
ceases"
Hence it is that the sick and tn
infirm, the very poor, the aged (thos
over sixty years., and expectant G
nursing women are exempted. Eve
those who work hard, and can nc
fast without detriment to their healtl
are relieved of the obligation. ''Worl