Here are three tips to deepen your relationship with God during the 40 days of Lent. Therese of Lisieux CCC During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting.
Dive into God's word in Scripture this Lent or pray the rosary with your family. Prayers and Devotions. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.
In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.
The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.
CRS Rice Bowl is also one way Catholics can enhance their Lenten fasting practice by giving up meals and donating the cost of those meals to Catholic Relief Services in order to help those who do not have enough to eat. The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.
As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God. There are several special opportunities for almsgiving through donations to Church ministries for which collections are conducted during the Lenten season including:. Many dioceses hold special appeals for local needs during Lent and there are countless other ways to offer your time, talent and treasure to needy individuals and organizations during Lent and throughout the year.
For ideas, contact your diocesan Social Concerns office or your local Catholic Charities affiliate. It might be more accurate to say that there is the "forty day fast within Lent. The forty day fast, however, has been more stable. The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence.
Apart from the prescribed days of fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and the days of abstinence every Friday of Lent, Catholics have traditionally chosen additional penitential practices for the whole Time of Lent. These practices are disciplinary in nature and often more effective if they are continuous, i. That being said, such practices are not regulated by the Church, but by individual conscience.
Abstinence laws consider that meat comes only from animals such as chickens, cows, sheep or pigs all of which live on land. Birds are also considered meat. Abstinence does not include meat juices and liquid foods made from meat. Thus, such foods as chicken broth, consomme, soups cooked or flavored with meat, meat gravies or sauces, as well as seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are technically not forbidden.
However, moral theologians have traditionally taught that we should abstain from all animal-derived products except foods such as gelatin, butter, cheese and eggs, which do not have any meat taste. Fish are a different category of animal. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, cold-blooded animals and shellfish are permitted. While fish, lobster, and other shellfish are not considered meat and can be consumed on days of abstinence, indulging in the lavish buffet at your favorite seafood place sort of misses the point.
Abstaining from meat and other indulgences during Lent is a penitential practice. On the Fridays of Lent, we remember the sacrifice of Christ on Good Friday and unite ourselves with that sacrifice through abstinence and prayer. Fasting on these days means we can have only one full, meatless meal.
Some food can be taken at the other regular meal times if necessary but combined they should be less than a full meal. Lent becomes more regularized after the legalization of Christianity in A. The Council of Nicea , in its disciplinary canons, noted that two provincial synods should be held each year, "one before the 40 days of Lent. Athanasius d. Cyril of Jerusalem d.
Cyril of Alexandria d. Finally, Pope St. Leo d. One can safely conclude that by the end of the fourth century, the day period of Easter preparation known as Lent existed, and that prayer and fasting constituted its primary spiritual exercises. Of course, the number "40" has always had special spiritual significance regarding preparation.
On Mount Sinai, preparing to receive the Ten Commandments, "Moses stayed there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, without eating any food or drinking any water" Ex Most importantly, Jesus fasted and prayed for "40 days and 40 nights" in the desert before He began His public ministry Mt Once the 40 days of Lent were established, the next development concerned how much fasting was to be done.
In Jerusalem, for instance, people fasted for 40 days, Monday through Friday, but not on Saturday or Sunday, thereby making Lent last for eight weeks. In Rome and in the West, people fasted for six weeks, Monday through Saturday, thereby making Lent last for six weeks.
Eventually, the practice prevailed of fasting for six days a week over the course of six weeks, and Ash Wednesday was instituted to bring the number of fast days before Easter to The rules of fasting varied. First, some areas of the Church abstained from all forms of meat and animal products, while others made exceptions for food like fish.
For example, Pope St. Gregory d. Augustine of Canterbury, issued the following rule: "We abstain from flesh, meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese and eggs. Don't act like a Pharisee looking for a loophole. These Lenten fasting rules also evolved. Eventually, a smaller repast was allowed during the day to keep up one's strength from manual labor. Eating fish was allowed, and later eating meat was also allowed through the week except on Ash Wednesday and Friday.
Dispensations were given for eating dairy products if a pious work was performed, and eventually this rule was relaxed totally.
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