The term collation refers to one or two light meals allowed on days of fasting, especially in Western Christianity. Its purpose is to allow a believer to perform their duties while fasting throughout the day. [1]
The term collation refers to one or two light meals allowed on days of fasting, especially in Western Christianity. Its purpose is to allow a believer to perform their duties while fasting throughout the day. [1]
The traditional Black Fast of Western Christianity, which was broken after sunset, did not permit a collation if strictly observed. [2] [3] After the 14th century AD, taking a collation became a normative part of Christian fasting practices in many localities. [2] [4] Water was not allowed to be consumed during the collation, but only during the main meal, which was taken after sunset. [5]
The consumption of a collation originally derives from the rule dating from the mid-6th century A.D. in Benedictine monasteries, that the usual evening meal was to be followed by the reading of excerpts from Collationes patrum in Scetica eremo [6] written by John Cassian in around 420 A.D. [7] However, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict , on days of fasting there would be no evening meal: Vespers was directly followed by the readings from the Collationes or the Lives of the Fathers , and then Compline. [8]
By the 9th century AD the strict rules about fasting in Western Christianity started to become more relaxed, as it became allowed to have a small amount of water in the evening on fast days. [9] Over the centuries, this eventually grew to apply to the indulgence of "a recognized quantity of solid food" allowed on days of fasting, with or without abstinence. [9] [10] [11] The evening collation came to be defined by the Catholic Church as being less than eight ounces of food. [12] In the 19th century, the allowance of another collation, called a frustulum, was introduced by the Catholic Church and is permitted to be eaten in the morning. [13]
At the present time, on Christian strict fasting days of Lent (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), the Catholic Church prescribes "only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing — as far as quantity and quality are concerned — approved local custom.". [14] This is, in some places, interpreted as "one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal". [15]
Similarly, a Missouri Synod Lutheran publication delineating fasting guidelines states that "On fasting days, two ¼ meals are eaten, and one regular meal in the evening". [16] The Traditional Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for Members of the Anglican Communion defines "Fasting, usually meaning not more than a light breakfast, one full meal, and one half meal, on the forty days of Lent." [17]
The French court of Louis XIV used the term collation to refer to light meals in general. In British English today, a collation is likewise a light meal, offered to guests when there is insufficient time for fuller entertainment. It is often rendered cold collation in reference to the usual lack of hot or cooked food. The Polish word kolacja ("supper") is a derivation. [18]
In modern Italian, the two small meals are the prima colazione (breakfast) and seconda colazione (lunch). The word "colazione" itself in the general language now means "breakfast" (whereas the English "break their fast" for breakfast; lunch is pranzo in Italian).
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominations of Eastern Christianity. It is intended to prepare Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha (Easter).
Shrove Tuesday is the final day of Shrovetide, marking the end of pre-Lent. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession; the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms; finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice; as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter.
Holy Week includes the events of Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem, the last supper, the arrest, and his death by crucifixion. For all Christian traditions, it is a moveable observance. In Eastern Christianity, which also calls it Great Week, it is the week following Great Lent and Lazarus Saturday, starting on the evening of Palm Sunday and concluding on the evening of Great Saturday. In Western Christianity, Holy Week is the sixth and last week of Lent, beginning with Palm Sunday and concluding on Holy Saturday.
In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers.
Compline, also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times.
Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. The three primary reasons are spiritual, nutritional, and ethical. The ethical reasons may include a concern for God's creation, a concern for animal rights and welfare, or both. Likewise, Christian veganism is not using any animal products for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. Pescetarianism was widespread in the early Church, among both the clergy and laity. Among the early Judeo-Christian Gnostics the Ebionites held that John the Baptist, James the Just and Jesus were vegetarians.
The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day for all departed souls (Purgatory), and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent. The work is composed of different psalms, scripture, prayers and other parts, divided into The Office of Readings, Lauds, Daytime Prayer, Vespers and Compline.
A fish fry is a social event containing battered or breaded fried fish. It usually also includes french fries, coleslaw, macaroni salad, lemon slices, tartar sauce, hot sauce, malt vinegar and dessert. Some Native American versions are cooked by coating fish with semolina and egg yolk.
The Friday fast is a Christian practice of variously abstaining from meat, dairy products and alcohol, on Fridays, or holding a fast on Fridays, that is found most frequently in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written in the first century A.D., directed Christians to fast on both Wednesdays and Fridays. The Wednesday fast is done in remembrance of the story of the betrayal of Christ by Judas on Spy Wednesday, while the Friday fast is done in commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. As such, all Fridays of the year have been historically kept in many parts of Christendom as a day of strict fasting and abstinence from alcohol, meat and lacticinia. Abstinence from meat on Fridays is done as a sacrifice by many Christians because they believe that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, in addition to fasting from food until sundown, the faithful are enjoined to abstain from sexual relations on Fridays as well.
In Christianity, the Nativity Fast—or Fast of the Prophets in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church—is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in preparation for the Nativity of Jesus on December 25. Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches commence the season on November 24 and end the season on the day of Ethiopian Christmas, which falls on January 7. The corresponding Western season of preparation for Christmas, which also has been called the Nativity Fast and St. Martin's Lent, has taken the name of Advent. The Eastern fast runs for 40 days instead of four or six weeks and thematically focuses on proclamation and glorification of the Incarnation of God, whereas the Western Advent focuses on three comings of Jesus Christ: his birth, reception of his grace by the faithful, and his Second Coming or Parousia.
The Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from something that is good, and not inherently sinful, such as meat. The 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 corporeal. Bodily fasting is meaningless unless it is joined with a spiritual avoidance of sin. Basil of Caesarea gives the following exhortation regarding fasting:
Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood and perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.
The Copts, who belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, observe fasting periods according to the Coptic calendar. In Coptic Orthodox Christianity, fasting is defined as going without water and food from midnight to sunset; after that time, the consumption of water and one vegetarian meal is permitted. The fasting periods of Coptic Christians are exceeded by no other Christian denomination except the Orthodox Tewahedo. Out of the 365 days of the year, Copts often fast between 210 and 240 days. This means that Copts abstain from all animal products for up to two-thirds of each year. Coptic Orthodox fasts have evolved over time to become more lengthy and severe. A lifestyle involving such fasts may have contributed to the pacifist mindset of the Coptic people for centuries. Married couples refrain from sexual relations during Lent "to give themselves time for fasting and prayer".
A Black Fast, also known as a strict fast, is a form of early Christian fasting. Those undertaking a Black Fast consume no food or water during the day and then break the fast after sunset with prayer, as well as water and a vegetarian meal devoid of meat, eggs, dairy products (lacticinia), and alcohol. Christians normatively fasted in this way during Lent prior to the 6th century.
Meat-free days or veggiedays are declared to discourage or prohibit the consumption of meat on certain days of the week. Mondays and Fridays are the most popular days. There are also movements encouraging people giving up meat on a weekly, monthly, or permanent basis.
Abstinence is the practice of self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, or other comforts.
Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry. Lent is usually observed in the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, United Protestant and Orthodox Christian traditions, among others. Some Anabaptist, Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, and nondenominational Christian churches also observe Lent, although many churches in these traditions do not.
Christian dietary laws vary between denominations. The general dietary restrictions specified for Christians in the New Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals". Some Christian denominations forbid certain foods during periods of fasting, which in some cases may cover half the year and may exclude meat, fish, dairy products, and olive oil.
A Lenten supper is a meal that takes place in the evenings to break the day's fast during the Christian liturgical season of Lent, which is widely observed by members of the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, Methodist, and United Protestant traditions, in addition to certain Reformed denominations.
Fasting is practiced in various religions. Examples include Lent in Christianity and Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Fast of Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of Tevet in Judaism. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from sunup until sundown.
Gradually the black fast disappeared as the practice arose of taking a small breakfast and an evening collation on fast days.
The so-called black fast refers to a day or days of penance on which only one meal is allowed, and that in the evening. The prescription of this type of fast not only forbids the partaking of meats but also of all dairy products, such as eggs, butter, cheese and milk. Wine and other alcoholic beverages are forbidden as well. In short, only bread, water and vegetables form part of the diet for one following such a fast.
The Black Fast continued until the tenth century when the custom of taking one daily meal was advanced to mid-afternoon, followed in the fourteenth century to mid-day. Shortly thereafter, an evening collation was permitted the faithful.
St. Benedict in his rule requires his religious to assemble after supper and before compline and listen to "collations"—i.e. the Conferences (of Cassian), the Lives of the Fathers, or other edifying books which were then read aloud by one of their number.
{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)In practice, however, these fasts are relieved by "collations," or what might be called an occasional snack. "Abstinence" usually involves abstention from flesh meat. In Anglican 'usage, the terms fasting and abstinence have become synonymous, probably because traditional fast days have been days of abstinence as well.