Fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church

For Roman Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food to one full meal a day. This may or may not be accompanied by abstinence from meat when eating. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that all people are obliged by God to perform some penance for their sins, and that these acts of penance are both personal and corporate. The purpose of fasting is spiritual focus, self-discipline, imitation of Christ, and performing penance; it in no way stems from a concept that the material world is in some sense evil. The Catholic Church requires Catholics to observe the discipline of abstaining at various times each year, especially during Lent. Abstinence is required throughout the year on Fridays though in some areas (such as in the United States) the bishops have agreed that it is not required on Fridays outside of Lent provided some other penitential act replaces it (e.g., saying the rosary or giving up something else, like TV). During Lent, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstinence and fasting are required and may not have another penitential act substituted for them. Contemporary Roman legislation is rooted in the 1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Paenitemini. Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are obliged to follow the discipline of their own particular church.
The Catholic practice of abstaining from meat popularized the Friday fish fry.
==Western practice==
Current Canon Law requires that on the days of mandatory fasting, Catholics may eat only one full meal during the day. Additionally, they may eat up to two small meals or snacks, known as "collations". Church requirements on fasting only relate to solid food, not to drink, so any amount of water or other beverages - even alcoholic drinks - may be consumed.
===History===
The practice of penance during Lent, the time before Easter, has roots in the early Church. Besides Lent there were other penitential times customarily accompanied by fasting or abstinence. These included Advent, the Ember Days, the Rogation Days, Fridays throughout the year, sometimes Wednesdays and Saturdays also, and the day before some important feast days (called a vigil).
In the west, Lent is observed from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, which includes 40 days, excluding Sundays. These days were at one time observed with a Black Fast of strictly no more than one meal, without meat, dairy, oil, or wine, taken after sunset. In the 14th century the meal was allowed at mid-day, and soon the practice of an evening collation became common. A morning collation was introduced in the 19th century. Fasting was still often accompanied by complete abstinence from meat, although this was not always the case. In the early 20th century, Church law prescribed fasting throughout Lent, with abstinence only on Friday and Saturday. Some countries received dispensations: Rome in 1918 allowed the bishops of Ireland to transfer the Saturday obligation to Wednesday; in the United States, abstinence was not required on Saturday. The other weekdays were simply days of "fasting without abstinence." A similar practice (common in the United States) was called "partial abstinence", which allowed meat only once during the day at the main meal. There is nothing in current law which corresponds to "partial abstinence."
Advent is also considered a time of special self-examination, humility, and spiritual preparation in anticipation of the birth of Christ. Fridays and Saturdays in Advent were days of abstinence, and until early in the 20th century, the Fridays of Advent were also days of fasting.
The vigils observed included the Saturday before Pentecost, October 31 (the vigil of All Saints), December 24 (Christmas Eve), December 7 (the vigil of the Immaculate Conception) and August 14 (the vigil of the Assumption). These vigils all required fasting; some also required abstinence. If any of these fell on a Sunday, the vigil, but not the obligation of fasting, was moved to the Saturday before. (Some other liturgical days were also known as vigils but neither fasting nor abstinence was required, particularly the vigils of feasts of the Apostles and the Vigil of the Epiphany.) By 1959 in the United States, the fast for the vigil of Christmas was moved to December 23.
Ember days occurred four times a year. The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the ember week were days of fast and abstinence, though the Wednesday and Saturday were often only days of partial abstinence. In addition, Roman Catholics were required to abstain from meat (but not fast) on all other Fridays, unless the Friday coincided with a holy day of obligation.
The former regulations on abstinence obliged Roman Catholics starting as young as age seven, but there were many exceptions to the above regulations. Large classes of people were considered exempt from fasting and abstinence, not only the sick and those with physically demanding jobs, but also people traveling and students. The regulations were adapted to each nation, and so in most dioceses in America abstinence from meat was not required on the Friday after Thanksgiving, to accommodate any meat leftover from that US national holiday.
===Contemporary application===
Contemporary legislation is rooted in the 1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Paenitemini. He recommended that fasting be appropriate to the local economic situation, and that all Catholics voluntarily fast and abstain. He also allowed that fasting and abstinence might be substituted with prayer and works of charity.
Current practice of fast and abstinence is regulated by Canons 1250-1253. They specify that all Fridays throughout the year, and the time of Lent are penitential times throughout the entire Church. All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence on all Fridays unless they are solemnities. All adults are bound by law to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday until the beginning of their sixtieth year.
Under Canon 1253, the local norms for fasting and abstinence are determined by each episcopal conference. In some Western countries, Catholics have been encouraged to adopt non-dietary forms of abstinence during Lent. For example, in 2009 Monsignor Benito Cocchi, Bishop of Modena, urged young Catholics to give up text messaging for Lent.New Zealand Herald, 8 March 2009, 'To text is to sin'.
====United States====
The current regulations concerning Lenten fasting and abstinence for Roman Catholics in the United States generally are as follows.
* Abstinence from all meat is to be observed by all Roman Catholics 14 years old and older on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent.
* Fasting is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by all Roman Catholics who are 18 years of age but not yet 59.
For Roman Catholics whose health or ability to work would be negatively affected by fasting and/or abstinence, the regulations above don't apply. If a Friday in Lent coincides with a solemnity, the abstinence is not required. The bishop of a diocese can modify these rules for Roman Catholics in his diocese; for example, it is not uncommon for a bishop of a diocese in the United States to give dispensations from the normal Lenten regulations if St. Patrick's Day (March 17) falls on a Friday during Lent.
Since the Fridays outside Lent are specified as penitential days by universal church law, but abstinence is not specified by the US bishops, it is left to the individual Roman Catholic to chose the form this penance takes. Pastoral teachings have urged voluntary fasting during Lent and voluntary abstinence on the other Fridays of the year. From time to time the leadership of the church has considered restoring obligatory abstinence on all Fridays, not just those of Lent. However, the policy in the United States has not been changed.
Parishes in the United States often sponsor a fish fry during Lent. In predominantly Roman Catholic areas, restaurants may adjust their menus during Lent by adding seafood items to the menu in an attempt to appeal to Roman Catholics.
==Eastern practice==
To fast customarily means to only eat one meal during the day, and to avoid animal products. Fasting is viewed as one part of repentance and supporting a spiritual change of heart. Eastern Christians observe two major times of fasting, the "Great Fast" before Easter, and "Phillip's Fast" before the Nativity.
During the Great Fast, meat, eggs, dairy products, fish and oil are avoided.
The fast period before Christmas is called "Philip's Fast" because it begins after the feast day of St. Philip. Specific practices vary, but on some days during the week meat, dairy products and (in some countries) oil are avoided, while on other days there is no restriction. During approximately the last week before the Nativity, typically meat, dairy, eggs and oil are avoided on all days, meals are moderate in quantity, and no food is taken between meals.
==Eucharistic Fast==
In addition to the fasts mentioned above, Roman Catholics must also observe the Eucharistic Fast, which involves taking nothing but water and medicines into the body for some time before receiving the Eucharist. The ancient practice was to fast from midnight until Mass that day, but as Masses after noon and in the evening became common in the West, this was soon modified to fasting for three hours. The latest Code of Canon Law reduced the Eucharistic Fast to the current one hour requirement for the Roman Rite. Particular law in some Eastern Catholic Churches also requires a one-hour Eucharistic fast.
==Footnotes==
==References==
* 
* 
* Paul VI. Paenitemini. Vatican, 1966.
==External links==
*Women for Faith & Family - includes texts of canon law
Category:Catholic traditionalism
Category:Catholic spirituality
Category:Catholic liturgy
Category:Catholic penitential practices
Category:Fasting
Category:Christian terms
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