Friday fast

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The Friday fast is a Christian practice of variously (depending on the denomination) abstaining from meat, dairy products and alcohol, on Fridays, or holding a fast on Fridays, [1] [2] that is found most frequently in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles , written in the first century A.D., directed Christians to fast on both Wednesdays (the fourth day of the week) and Fridays (the sixth day of the week). [8] 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. [7] [3] 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 (milk and milk products). [9] [2] 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. [10] 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. [11] [3]

Contents

In Christianity

In Orthodoxy

According to Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Orthodox Christians are required to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, which to eat but once a day, in the afternoon, without consuming oil or wine. The Wednesday fast is observed because on this day the council of the Jews was gathered to betray Jesus Christ; the Friday fast because on this day he suffered death. [3] The supper that is eaten after the fast is broken in the evening is usually vegan. [3]

In Catholicism

In Catholicism, specific regulations are passed by individual episcopates. In the United States in 1966, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops passed Norms II and IV that bound all persons from age fourteen to abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent and through the year.[ citation needed ] Previously, the requirement to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year applied for those age seven or older. Canons 1252 and 1253 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law express this same rule, and added that Bishops may permit substitution of other penitential practices for Fridays outside of Lent, but that some form of penance shall be observed on all Fridays of the year in commemoration of the day of the week of the Lord's Crucifixion. [12] Abstinence on all Fridays outside of Lent is still the preferred practice among many Catholics, who choose to maintain this tradition rather than substituting an alternative penance. [13] Most episcopal conferences have not allowed the substitution of an alternative penance for Fridays of Lent. No episcopal conference has lifted the obligation for either fasting or abstinence for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Fast and abstinence is regulated by Canons 1250–1253 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. They specify that all Fridays throughout the year and the time of Lent are penitential times throughout the entire Church. All adults (those who have attained the 'age of majority', which is 18 years in canon law) are bound by ecclesiastical law to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday until the beginning of their sixtieth year. All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence on all Fridays unless the Friday is a solemnity, and again on Ash Wednesday; but in practice, this requirement has been greatly reduced by the Episcopal Conferences because under Canon 1253, it is these Conferences that have the authority to set down the local norms for fasting and abstinence in their territories. The precept to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is usually not dispensed from.

Catholics may eat only one full meal on a fast day. Additionally, they are permitted to eat up to two small meals or snacks, known as collations. [14] Church requirements on fasting only relate to solid food, not to drink, so Church law does not restrict the amount of water or other beverages – even alcoholic drinks – which may be consumed. Church law on fasting has changed over the centuries since fasting is a discipline which may be altered by legitimate Church authorities.

In Lutheranism

A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent delineates the following Lutheran fasting guidelines: [6]

  1. Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with only one simple meal during the day, usually without meat.
  2. Refrain from eating meat (bloody foods) on all Fridays in Lent, substituting fish for example.
  3. Eliminate a food or food group for the entire season. Especially consider saving rich and fatty foods for Easter.
  4. Consider not eating before receiving Communion in Lent.
  5. Abstain from or limit a favorite activity (television, movies, etc.) for the entire season, and spend more time in prayer, Bible study, and reading devotional material. [6]

It is the practice of many Lutherans to abstain from alcohol and meat on the Fridays of Lent; [2] a Black Fast has been historically kept by Lutherans on Good Friday. [15] [16]

In Anglicanism

The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England designates "All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day" as "days of fasting or abstinence", alongside the forty days of Lent, the Ember Days, the Rogation Days, and the vigils of the most prominent feast days. [17]

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America describes "All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day and the Epiphany, or any Friday which may intervene between these Feasts" as days "on which the church requires such a measure of abstinence as is more especially suited to extraordinary acts and exercises of devotion". [18]

In Methodism

The Methodist Churches traditionally encourage their adherents to fast on Fridays throughout the year. [4] The General Rules written by the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, state: "It is expected of all who desire to continue in these societies that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation, by attending upon all the ordinances of God, such are: the public worship of God; the ministry of the Word, either read or expounded; the Supper of the Lord; family and private prayer; searching the Scriptures; and fasting or abstinence." [19] A principal Methodist liturgical book The Sunday Service of the Methodists (put together by Wesley), as well as the Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744), mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year (except Christmas Day, if it falls on a Friday), [4] [20] [5] a practice that was reemphasized by Phoebe Palmer and became standard in the Methodist churches of the holiness movement. [21] [22]

Wesley required fasting on both Wednesdays (in remembrance of the Betrayal of Christ) and Fridays (in remembrance of His crucifixion and death) for those seeking ordination. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

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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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friday</span> Day of the week

Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrove Tuesday</span> Tuesday before Ash Wednesday

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash Wednesday</span> First day of Lent in Western Christianity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Week</span> Calendar date

Holy Week is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penance</span> Repentance of sins

Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part in confession among Anglicans and Methodists, in which it is a rite, as well as among other Protestants.

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. Pescatarianism 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish fry</span> Dish consisting of battered or breaded fried fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fasting and abstinence of the Coptic Orthodox Church</span> Coptic Orthodox fasts

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Fast</span> Ancient form of Christian fasting

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.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lent</span> Annual pre-Easter Christian observance

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenten sacrifice</span> Sacrifice during Lent

A Lenten sacrifice is a spiritually motivated voluntary renunciation of a pleasure or luxury that most Christians give up for the observance of Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday. The tradition of Lent has its roots in Jesus Christ praying and fasting for forty days in the desert according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. When Lent is over and Easter Sunday arrives, the faithful are able to indulge in what they sacrificed during the Lenten season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenten supper</span> Christian meal

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrovetide</span> Liturgical period

Shrovetide is the Christian liturgical period prior to the start of Lent that begins on Shrove Saturday and ends at the close of Shrove Tuesday. The season focuses on examination of conscience and repentance before the Lenten fast. It includes Shrove Saturday, Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday.

References

  1. ↑ Mazokopakis, Elias E. (2018). "Why is Meat Excluded from the Orthodox Christian Diet during Fasting? A Religious and Medical Approach". Mædica: A Journal of Clinical Medicine. 13 (4). doi:10.26574/maedica.2018.13.4.282 (inactive 2024-09-12). The Holy Tradition (written and oral) of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church, while advising avoidance of olive oil, meat, fish, milk, and dairy products every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year, additionally includes four principal fasting periods per year when meat as well as dairy products and eggs are forbidden.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (link)
  2. 1 2 3 "Fasting Guidelines" (PDF). Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2018. Definitions:
    "Fast" Limiting the quantity of food. On fasting days, two ¼ meals are eaten, and one regular meal in the evening.
    "Strict Fast" means: only bread and water in limited quantities.
    "Abstain" means: abstaining from animal meat (fish and seafood is acceptable); wine & alcohol (beer is acceptable).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Concerning Fasting on Wednesday and Friday. Orthodox Christian Information Center. Accessed 2010-10-08.
  4. 1 2 3 John Wesley (1825). The Sunday Service of the Methodists. J. Kershaw. p. 145. Days of Fasting or Abstinence All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas-Day
  5. 1 2 Crowther, Jonathan (1815). A Portraiture of Methodism: Or, The History of the Wesleyan Methodists. T. Blanshard. pp. 251, 257.
  6. 1 2 3 Weitzel, Thomas L. (1978). "A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Fasting and abstinence". The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Retrieved 1 April 2023. The fast of Wednesdays and Fridays: Besides the aforesaid fasts, the Church fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year except any solemn feast falling on these days and the fifty days after the Easter. The Significance of Wednesday is that it was on this day that the Jews made plot to crucify Jesus Christ and Friday to commemorate His passion, crucifixion and death for the whole world.
  8. ↑ "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, known as The Didache" (PDF). Legacy Icons. 2016. p. 8. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  9. ↑ W., W.J. (1881). "Questions Regarding the Lenten Fast". Irish Ecclesiastical Record . Browne and Nolan: 28.
  10. ↑ "Why don't Catholics eat meat on Fridays?". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2022. Abstinence is one of our oldest Christian traditions. "From the first century, the day of the crucifixion has been traditionally observed as a day of abstaining from flesh meat ("black fast") to honor Christ who sacrificed his flesh on a Friday" (Klein, P., Catholic Source Book, 78). ... Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays.
  11. ↑ Menzel, Konstantinos (14 April 2014). "Abstaining From Sex Is Part of Fasting". Greek Reporter . Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  12. ↑ Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics Archived 2015-09-15 at the Wayback Machine . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops . Accessed 2007-12-07.
  13. ↑ Latona, Mike (2012-04-02). "The fine print about Fridays". Catholic Courier. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  14. ↑ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2022). "Fast & Absinence". USCCB.org.
  15. ↑ Pfatteicher, Philip H. (1990). Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context. Augsburg Fortress Publishers. pp. 223–244, 260. ISBN   9780800603922. The Good Friday fast became the principal fast in the calendar, and even after the Reformation in Germany many Lutherans who observed no other fast scrupulously kept Good Friday with strict fasting.
  16. ↑ Jacobs, Henry Eyster; Haas, John Augustus William (1899). The Lutheran Cyclopedia. Scribner. p.  110. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2019. By many Lutherans Good Friday is observed as a strict fast. The lessons on Ash Wednesday emphasize the proper idea of the fast. The Sundays in Lent receive their names from the first words of their Introits in the Latin service, Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Lcetare, Judica.
  17. ↑ Church of England (1716). The book of common prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the church, according to the use of the Church of England: together with the psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. hdl:2027/gri.ark:/13960/t81k49h7h.
  18. ↑ Tables and Rules for the Movable and Immovable Feasts, Together with the Days of Fasting and Abstinence, through the Whole Year, p. 3 of 6. The 1928 U.S. Book of Common Prayer . Accessed 2009-04-09.
  19. 1 2 Beard, Steve (30 January 2012). "The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting". Good News Magazine. United Methodist Church.
  20. ↑ McKnight, Scot (2010). Fasting: The Ancient Practices. Thomas Nelson. p. 88. ISBN   9781418576134. John Wesley, in his Journal, wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'
  21. ↑ Synan, Vinson (25 August 1997). The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 24. ISBN   9780802841032.
  22. ↑ Smith, Larry D. (September 2008). "Progressive Sanctification" (PDF). God's Revivalist and Bible Advocate. 120 (6). God's Bible School and College. Principles which underlie our Wesleyan/holiness heritage include such commitments as unquestioned scriptural authority; classical orthodox theology; identity with the one holy and apostolic church; warmhearted evangelical experience; love perfected in sanctifying grace; careful, disciplined living; structured spiritual formation, fidelity to the means of grace; and responsible witness both in public and in private—all of which converge in holiness of heart and life, which for us Methodists will always be the "central idea of Christianity." These are bedrock essentials, and without them we shall have no heritage at all. Though we may neglect them, these principles never change. But our prudentials often do. Granted, some of these are so basic to our DNA that to give them up would be to alter the character of our movement. Wesley, for example, believed that the prudentials of early Methodism were so necessary to guard its principles that to lose the first would be also to lose the second. His immediate followers should have listened to his caution, as should we. For throughout our history, foolish men have often imperiled our treasure by their brutal assault against the walls which our founders raised to contain them. Having said this, we must add that we have had many other prudentials less significant to our common life which have come and gone throughout our history. For instance, weekly class meetings, quarterly love feasts, and Friday fast days were once practiced universally among us, as was the appointment of circuit-riding ministers assisted by "exhorters" and "local preachers."
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