Fr. Z's Blog

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, Latin Church Catholics are bound to observe fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday.

Here are some details. I am sure you know them already, but they are good to review.

FASTING: Catholics who are 18 year old and up, until their 59th birthday (when you begin your 60th year), are bound to fast (1 full meal and perhaps some food at a couple points during the day, call it 2 “snacks”, according to local custom or law – call it, two snacks that don’t add up to a full meal) on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday.

Some choose not to eat at all.  Some choose, in the monastic style, to have something only in the evening.

There is no scientific formula for this.  Figure it out.

ABSTINENCE: Catholics who are 14 years old and older are abound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent.

In general, when you have a medical condition of some kind, or you are pregnant, etc., these requirements can be relaxed.

For Eastern Catholics there are differences concerning dates and practices. Our Eastern friends can fill us Latins in.  However, in the main, Eastern Catholics observe rigorous fasting disciplines rooted in ancient practice. Great Lent includes abstinence from meat, and often dairy, eggs, wine, and oil on prescribed days. The Eucharistic fast traditionally begins at midnight. Wednesdays and Fridays are penitential. Particular Churches follow their own customs.

You should by now have a plan for your spiritual life and your physical/material mortifications and penitential practices during Lent.

You would do well to include some works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal.

I also recommend making a good confession close to the beginning of Lent.  Let me put that another way:

GO TO CONFESSION!

“But Father! But Father!”, some of you are saying anxiously, “What about my coffee?  I can drink my coffee, can’t I?  Can’t I?”

You can, of course, have coffee.  No question there.  You can also choose not to.  Unless there are health issues or work/calorie issues, you can choose not to eat anything for the day.   But back to the critical question:

How about coffee in between meals on Ash Wednesday?

The old axiom, for the Lenten fast, is “Liquidum non frangit ieiunium … liquid does not break the fast”, provided – NB – you are drinking for the sake of thirst, rather than for eating.

Common sense suggests that chocolate banana shakes or “smoothies”, etc., are not permissible, even though they are pretty much liquid in form.  They are not what you would drink because you are thirsty, as you might more commonly do with water, coffee, tea, wine in some cases, lemonade, even sports drinks such as “Gatorade”, etc.

Again, common sense applies, so figure it out.

Drinks such as coffee and tea do not break the Lenten fast even if they have a little milk added, or a bit of sugar, or fruit juice, which in the case of tea might be lemon.

Coffee would break the Eucharistic fast (one hour before Communion), since – pace fallentes  – coffee is no longer water, but it does not break the Lenten fast on Ash Wednesday.

You will be happy to know that chewing tobacco does not break the fast (unless you eat the quid, I guess), nor does using mouthwash (gargarisatio in one manual I checked) or brushing your teeth (pulverisatio – because once people used tooth powder, Latin pulvis – and you still can!  GETCHYER TOOTH POWDER HERE! There is even one with charcoal (ashes?  Remember, O man!).  The ancient Romans – at least the ancient Iberians under the Romans – as we know from a poem by Catullus, used chalk and urine. Yes.  They did (cf. Catullus 39 about Egnatius, who apparently grinned to excess).

EVERYONE NB: Never forget the Latin proverb, risus abundant in ore stultorum… laughter/grinning abounds in the mouths of the stupid.  And, in the aforementioned Cat 39, “nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est… there is nothing more tasteless than a silly laugh”.  If you have a risus ineptus you would do well to change your ways.

Concerning the consumption of alligator and crocodile – HERE

I included notes also on the eating of endothermic moonfish, peptonized beef, and muskrat… just in case.

If you want to drink your coffee and tea with true merit I suggest drinking it from one of my coffee mugs.  I’d like to offer an indulgence for doing so, but that’s above my pay grade.

I just happen to have available a “Liquidum non frangit ieiunium” mug!  HERE

And there’s also this new choice…

3:16 isn’t just in John.