Ash Wednesday Fast: What Do You Do?

[Gabriela]

I'm worried about this fast. This semester, I am on campus Wednesdays, running around non-stop from 8:45 am till 6:45 pm. Then I have to be at Mass at 7 pm. Then ride a scooter home in the dark at 8 pm. All without having eaten all day...

 

Do y'all eat at all on Ash Wednesday? Drink water?

 

I'm wondering how people with very active schedules handle this.

[Nihil Obstat]

You are able to have one meal, and a snack. If I were in your position, I would have that full meal around mid-afternoon, then the snack perhaps around 5 or just before 6.

[Lilllabettt]

where are you getting that from?

 

I thought it was 1 main meal and then 2 small collations that combined do not equal the main meal.

[MissyP89]

Oh my goodness, don't worry!

 

The rules for fasting are actually super reasonable for an otherwise healthy person.

 

You can have:

 

* One big meal

* Two mini-meals (about half the size of a regular meal)

* Whatever you want to drink

 

So maybe you can wake up and have some fruit and yogurt, then have a small (half-sized) salad for lunch and then your dinner.

 

You should feel a bit hungry, especially by dinner, but you are never expected to push yourself to the point where you feel unwell.

 

The best thing to do is just plan out what and when you're going to eat. We can help, if you want.

Usually what I do is have a granola bar and yogurt in the morning, a half a tuna sandwich for lunch and then I eat my full meal at dinnertime: soup and grilled cheese.

[Gabriela]

Ok, confession: I feel bad eating at all. A Jewish fast is "total": No food, no water, for 26 hours.

 

How is it a "fast" if you eat? Maybe I'm missing the point of a Catholic fast... Someone please help alleviate my guilt.

[beatitude]

Just to add to what the others have written above: you mustn't have any meat on Ash Wednesday, and you should avoid 'luxury' foods - desserts etc. A typical meal is something like lentil soup. Technically you can drink whatever you want, but in practice many observant Catholics whom I know drink only water.

 

'Fasting' has a broader meaning in Catholicism than it has in Judaism. (Bear in mind that Ash Wednesday is meant to initiate forty days of penance and set the tone for the rest of Lent; it's not meant to stand out as one day of massive austerity.) If you want to undertake a more rigorous fast, you're free to do that - many people do. I know some people who don't eat or drink except for receiving the Eucharist. But that is not spiritually beneficial or physically possible for everybody, and the rules on Ash Wednesday do reflect that. (I have a history of eating disorders, and a stricter fast would be disastrous for me.) In this case it sounds like it may not be spiritually beneficial for you to observe a total fast either. You'd be doing it out of guilt. Lent is not a place for guilt. It would be more humble for you to eat the small meal and the two snacks - a valuable way to begin Lent, which is a perfect time for cultivating humility and recognising the smallness of what we can offer to God. In later years, you might want to resume a total fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, either in keeping with your Jewish heritage or just because it's something which you feel drawn to do, but then it will not be influenced by guilt.

Edited February 10, 2013 by beatitude

[Nihil Obstat]

where are you getting that from?

I thought it was 1 main meal and then 2 small collations that combined do not equal the main meal.

Yes, my mistake. I usually keep it to one snack for myself because I do not need the second.

If I remember correctly, in the early Church the fast was that one could take a small amount of bread and salt, and only after sunset. Every day during Lent.

[beatitude]

Yes, my mistake. I usually keep it to one snack for myself because I do not need the second.

If I remember correctly, in the early Church the fast was that one could take a small amount of bread and salt, and only after sunset. Every day during Lent.

 

You're talking about the Black Fast. It used to be that you were allowed one meal a day during Lent, but only after sunset, and no meat, oil, wine, or dairy products. On Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, that sunset meal could only consist of bread and salt. It persisted until the Middle Ages, and some Eastern Catholics observe it still.

 

I observed it one year, but that was done out of illness rather than faith. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. I think it's the type of fasting that should only be done with guidance from a priest or spiritual director, as going for forty days on so little food can be hard on both body and mind unless you have the support of a wise person/community.

[Basilisa Marie]

If you're fasting so much that you're really only focusing on the fact that you're not eating food, you're not doing it right. :) Others have really good posts here.  I'd say that a reason why Catholic fasts seem wimpy is because the point is to inspire prayer, a sort of spiritual hunger for God, a spiritual self-discipline. And because our body influences our spirit, a bodily discipline is conducive to spiritual discipline.  So it's totally possible that a person observing the meal plus two snacks is getting more spiritual benefits than the person giving up all but water all day. Most people aren't spiritual ready for that kind of practice.  Moderation is key here.  :)  

 

And for what it's worth, the Church allows people who are doing things like manual labor to eat a bit more to sustain themselves.  If you're going to pass out, eat! The point isn't the rule, it's the reason behind it. :)

[PhuturePriest]

Ok, confession: I feel bad eating at all. A Jewish fast is "total": No food, no water, for 26 hours.

 

How is it a "fast" if you eat? Maybe I'm missing the point of a Catholic fast... Someone please help alleviate my guilt.

 

As a Priest once said, the point of fasting is to show that we rely on God, not on food. We can still show this by eating small amounts of food. In fact, this can sometimes be worse because once you start eating it can be very difficult to stop.

[Nihil Obstat]

You're talking about the Black Fast. It used to be that you were allowed one meal a day during Lent, but only after sunset, and no meat, oil, wine, or dairy products. On Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, that sunset meal could only consist of bread and salt. It persisted until the Middle Ages, and some Eastern Catholics observe it still.

 

I observed it one year, but that was done out of illness rather than faith. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. I think it's the type of fasting that should only be done with guidance from a priest or spiritual director, as going for forty days on so little food can be hard on both body and mind unless you have the support of a wise person/community.

 

Yeah, our priest spent some time talking about that last Sunday. Went over how the rules have been relaxed over the centuries.

[Lilllabettt]

When  I was in the convent we had hot cross buns for breakfast and hot cross buns for supper. They were the traditional kind - those little rolls with cross icing. The main meal was at lunch, and it was by no means lentil soup!  I think it was 7 layer salad with rainbow jello and whipped cream for dessert. Whatever it was, I know it was a traditional Ash Wednesday main meal that came to the community from a rather famous religious congregation in Nashville. We were firmly admonished not to be scrupulous about the lunch menu, but to eat what was offered to us. I guess that is one of the benefits of religious life ... you don't have to make judgement calls on that kind of thing.

[Sister Marie]

When  I was in the convent we had hot cross buns for breakfast and hot cross buns for supper. They were the traditional kind - those little rolls with cross icing. The main meal was at lunch, and it was by no means lentil soup!  I think it was 7 layer salad with rainbow jello and whipped cream for dessert. Whatever it was, I know it was a traditional Ash Wednesday main meal that came to the community from a rather famous religious congregation in Nashville. We were firmly admonished not to be scrupulous about the lunch menu, but to eat what was offered to us. I guess that is one of the benefits of religious life ... you don't have to make judgement calls on that kind of thing.

 

One year the local community I lived with decided that our communal Lenten penance would be soup and bread on Wednesday nights for dinner throughout Lent.  I'm sure for some people it was a cross but for me it was the best meal ever.  I was so sad when Lent was over because I enjoyed the Wednesday penance so much more than I did a full meal the rest of the days of the week, haha.

[Gabriela]

Just to add to what the others have written above: you mustn't have any meat on Ash Wednesday, and you should avoid 'luxury' foods - desserts etc. A typical meal is something like lentil soup. Technically you can drink whatever you want, but in practice many observant Catholics whom I know drink only water.

 

'Fasting' has a broader meaning in Catholicism than it has in Judaism. (Bear in mind that Ash Wednesday is meant to initiate forty days of penance and set the tone for the rest of Lent; it's not meant to stand out as one day of massive austerity.) If you want to undertake a more rigorous fast, you're free to do that - many people do. I know some people who don't eat or drink except for receiving the Eucharist. But that is not spiritually beneficial or physically possible for everybody, and the rules on Ash Wednesday do reflect that. (I have a history of eating disorders, and a stricter fast would be disastrous for me.) In this case it sounds like it may not be spiritually beneficial for you to observe a total fast either. You'd be doing it out of guilt. Lent is not a place for guilt. It would be more humble for you to eat the small meal and the two snacks - a valuable way to begin Lent, which is a perfect time for cultivating humility and recognising the smallness of what we can offer to God. In later years, you might want to resume a total fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, either in keeping with your Jewish heritage or just because it's something which you feel drawn to do, but then it will not be influenced by guilt.

 

Excellent post. I understand now. Thank you very much!

 

You're right about the guilt, and I will observe the one meal–two collations rule. :-)

 

If you're fasting so much that you're really only focusing on the fact that you're not eating food, you're not doing it right.

 

This is definitely the outcome of a Jewish fast, at least for me. I never felt able to "focus more on prayer", which was supposed to be the point. Thanks for posting!

So, does anyone wanna share any awesome lentil soup recipes?

[Annie12]

I have a question. Does milk count as food or drink?