Fasting From Meat

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

I read somewhere that milk and other stuff was once a part of the Friday fasts. Is this still the case? If so, is there a comprehensive list so that I can follow it?

[Hirsap]

[quote name='thedude' post='1158209' date='Jan 8 2007, 08:19 AM']
I read somewhere that milk and other stuff was once a part of the Friday fasts. Is this still the case? If so, is there a comprehensive list so that I can follow it?
[/quote]

To my understanding, all Friday's of the year were days of abstinence ([i]generally [/i] speaking), meaning meat must be abstained from. A day of [i]fasting[/i] involves only consuming one main meal, I think. As for the specifics, like milk, I am unsure exactly.

Edited January 7, 2007 by Hirsap

[journeyman]

Abstinence. The moral virtue that inclines a person to the moderate use of food or drink as dictated by right reason or by faith for his own moral and spiritual welfare.

As commonly understood, abstinence refers to refraining from certain kinds of food or drink and may be undertaken by a person spontaneously or it may be prescribed by ecclesiastical law, whether for the universal Church or for certain territories. Institutes of Christian perfection may also have special provisions for abstinence according to their rule of life.

The Jewish law contained elaborate food prohibitions which, however, were abrogated by the New Dispensation, the only apparent exceptions being blood and things strangled. (Acts 15:20) From early Christian times, other kinds of abstinence were paracticed, especially among the hermits. Thus St. Antony of Egypt and his followers abstained from all food except bread, water, and salt, and many contemplative orders still observe a severe abstinence for all or most of the year.
(Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 1980, page 8)

Fasting. A form of penance that imposes limits on the kind or quantity of food or drink. From the first century Christians have observed fasting days of precept, notably during the season of Lent in commemoration of Christ's passion and death. In the early Church there was less formal precept and therefor greater variety of custom, but in general fasting was much more severe than in the modern Church. In the East and West the faithful abstained on fasting days from wine as well as from flesh-meat, both being permitted only in cases of weak health. The ancient custom in the Latin Church of celebrating Mass in the evening during Lent was partly due to the fact that in many places the first meal was not taken before sunset.

. . .

With the constitution [i]Paenitemini[/i] of Paul VI in 1966, the meaning of the law of fasting remained, but the extent of the obligation was changed. Thus "the law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, while observing approved local custom as far as quantity and quality of food are concerned."

. . .

(Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 1980, page 267)

Abstinence (2) the obligation attached to certain days on which the Church forbids Catholics the eating of meat and soups of meat stock, gravy or sauces made from meat.
(The Concise Catholic Dictionary, 1943, page 20)

Edited January 8, 2007 by journeyman