Can. 919 §1. A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine.
The Eucharistic fast is very light. You could be eating while pulling into a parking space before Mass and still probably be fine.
Is there really no exception for pregnancy (or sickness, for that matter)? I know multiple women who, during preganncy (especially first trimester) either were unable to receive Communion because the little embryo decided that suddenly mom needs to eat, or who attempted the Eucharistic fast and ended up vomiting. The Eucharistic fast is very light if you're healthy and not pregnant, but not light absolutely.
Ah, I see you’ve never been pregnant ;) in my experience, when pregnant I am not able to keep the same boundaries with regard to when I stop eating/begin fasting before mass as I do when not pregnant. I also sometimes need to bring a water bottle to mass, which I otherwise would not do (though I recognize that water doesn’t break the fast!).
I’m enjoying getting all these notifications and being grateful that this year I am not pregnant (but also grateful that I AM nursing and therefore also not obligated to fast! So if any nursing mamas are reading… feed yourself, feed your baby :) and encourage your husband in HIS fast!
Pregnant or nursing Moms who need food should eat food as they need it, whenever they need it for their health and the health of their baby.
I’m a man.
Richard, you and I have no experience of all the many different issues of being pregnant. Therefore, it is not our business what a pregnant Mom needs to do. The same goes for a diabetic. Even if you are diabetic each person has their own needs.
In both cases whatever is necessary to keep healthy is what the Lord requires.
And a pregnant Mom should be seeing a doctor in any case.
There is, and has been for some time, an exception to the Eucharistic fast for those who are elderly or sick. While this does not include pregnancy in general it would certainly, in my mind, include those experiencing a difficult pregnancy and who need to eat something for that reason.
In this situation I would talk to my parish priest (an overlooked resource), and because my parish priest is always less hard on me than I am on myself, it would be a foregone conclusion that I would be told something both sensible and charitable that I could then consider "obedience" during any scruples flare-up in the next month. (Though if I felt queasy during the Liturgy of the Eucharist and was not feeling quite quite by the time the priest makes his communion, I would be inclined to stay in the pew, or to leave it only in the direction of the bathroom, for pragmatic reasons regardless of fast status.)
All that sounds rather … complicated. I’ll deny myself alcohol, cigars and sweets (hit ‘em where it hurts, you know). Then, on THE sunday I‘ll have a cigar with the LOrd and praise HIm for that and mans other things. Go Judah!
I have heard the argument from clergy in the USA that if Friday abstaining becomes “law” people will not observe it and, therefore be caused to sin.
This is kind of like having “Ascension Sunday” because it might be too difficult to get to Mass on a Thursday. My other favorite piece of ridiculousness is if a holy day falls on a Monday the obligation doesn’t stand.
If one feels forced to abstain (where it is law) on all Fridays or constantly complains about it then don’t do it.
Unless sickness, age or pregnancy is involved, the attitude of “I have to” destroys the spirit of the practice.
We waste time on too many whinny questions and loopholes.
We do this out of love for the Lord and unite it to his sacrifice.
If one can’t offer this small sacrifice that’s a spiritual problem and I would encourage a person with this problem to seek help. If people ignore the rules in their country or region it is their problem not the Church’s problem.
I do a traditional Lenten fast similar to Eastern Catholicism so I just have a little bit of plain bread (basically a collation of bread) as my one meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I do have black instant coffee though, i need it to function. Plain old bread is delicious when you are hungry.
The general Eastern custom is not so much about avoiding food ebut the types of food. The “strict fast” means no meat (gravies, sauces and soups made with meat are considered meat), eggs, dairy, wine and oil.
Most Eastern Catholic Churches have “watered” this practice down. The Orthodox generally keep this tradition, though it is not considered to be required under “pain of sin.” You do it because you choose to do it as part of your spiritual life.
It is not about how long you can go without eating.
Traditionally, in the East “fasting” is about abstinence from certain foods.
In practice it means eating only vegetables, fruits and breads made without dairy or oil.
As a vocational practice I fast every day except Sunday from the feast of the exaltation of the Cross to Easter Sunday (for me this is one meal, taken in the evening after I pray Evening Prayer, sufficient for the day's nutrition). I never eat flesh meat at any time and I never drink alcohol (I do not want these things, so it's not a sacrifice). During Lent I also eat no fish, dairy, eggs, or added sugar (I do eat fruit)--again, excepting Sundays. Excluding all oils hasn't seemed practical. Because I already fast and abstain, I do something different on the particular "fast days" in the calendar. That is the reason for eating only bread! I've read the Desert Fathers and I'm clearly not that--though it's the one time when I have their experience of living on bread. I'm also a Latin Catholic so I don't feel obliged by exact Eastern practices of course. Since what I do (though with advice of spiritual direction) is done because I choose and want to do that, I don't even assume there is virtue in it. It does however help me to have a better self control about food than I would otherwise have--and it makes it feel like Lent. In my opinion that feeling, not only in the mind but in the body, of it being Lent is what helps turn me to contrition and to God. Intimacy with God is what I'm craving. My eating habits are not something I've ever urged anyone else to do.
I'm over 60, can I sell my fasting to others? Not sell, ya know, but like let them have it count for them like "earning" indulgences for others? Or is that another example of not really understanding the purpose of the Lenten Fast?
I'd be interested in your take on whether pregnant women, subject to the vagaries of pregancy, are required to keep the Eucharistic fast.
Can. 919 §1. A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine.
The Eucharistic fast is very light. You could be eating while pulling into a parking space before Mass and still probably be fine.
Is there really no exception for pregnancy (or sickness, for that matter)? I know multiple women who, during preganncy (especially first trimester) either were unable to receive Communion because the little embryo decided that suddenly mom needs to eat, or who attempted the Eucharistic fast and ended up vomiting. The Eucharistic fast is very light if you're healthy and not pregnant, but not light absolutely.
I think if someone can’t go an hour without eating they should probably see a doctor. Something isn’t right.
And then, anything for medicinal reasons fits in the law for the Eucharistic fast.
Ah, I see you’ve never been pregnant ;) in my experience, when pregnant I am not able to keep the same boundaries with regard to when I stop eating/begin fasting before mass as I do when not pregnant. I also sometimes need to bring a water bottle to mass, which I otherwise would not do (though I recognize that water doesn’t break the fast!).
I’m enjoying getting all these notifications and being grateful that this year I am not pregnant (but also grateful that I AM nursing and therefore also not obligated to fast! So if any nursing mamas are reading… feed yourself, feed your baby :) and encourage your husband in HIS fast!
Pregnant or nursing Moms who need food should eat food as they need it, whenever they need it for their health and the health of their baby.
I’m a man.
Richard, you and I have no experience of all the many different issues of being pregnant. Therefore, it is not our business what a pregnant Mom needs to do. The same goes for a diabetic. Even if you are diabetic each person has their own needs.
In both cases whatever is necessary to keep healthy is what the Lord requires.
And a pregnant Mom should be seeing a doctor in any case.
There is, and has been for some time, an exception to the Eucharistic fast for those who are elderly or sick. While this does not include pregnancy in general it would certainly, in my mind, include those experiencing a difficult pregnancy and who need to eat something for that reason.
In this situation I would talk to my parish priest (an overlooked resource), and because my parish priest is always less hard on me than I am on myself, it would be a foregone conclusion that I would be told something both sensible and charitable that I could then consider "obedience" during any scruples flare-up in the next month. (Though if I felt queasy during the Liturgy of the Eucharist and was not feeling quite quite by the time the priest makes his communion, I would be inclined to stay in the pew, or to leave it only in the direction of the bathroom, for pragmatic reasons regardless of fast status.)
All that sounds rather … complicated. I’ll deny myself alcohol, cigars and sweets (hit ‘em where it hurts, you know). Then, on THE sunday I‘ll have a cigar with the LOrd and praise HIm for that and mans other things. Go Judah!
Isn’t Ash Wednesday also a day of abstinence from meat?
Yes it is.
I see it has been corrected. Thank you, The Pillar!
Here in the UK abstinence is obligatory on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent.
It was reinstated in 2011.
And as it could be here in the USA
I have heard the argument from clergy in the USA that if Friday abstaining becomes “law” people will not observe it and, therefore be caused to sin.
This is kind of like having “Ascension Sunday” because it might be too difficult to get to Mass on a Thursday. My other favorite piece of ridiculousness is if a holy day falls on a Monday the obligation doesn’t stand.
If one feels forced to abstain (where it is law) on all Fridays or constantly complains about it then don’t do it.
Unless sickness, age or pregnancy is involved, the attitude of “I have to” destroys the spirit of the practice.
We waste time on too many whinny questions and loopholes.
We do this out of love for the Lord and unite it to his sacrifice.
If one can’t offer this small sacrifice that’s a spiritual problem and I would encourage a person with this problem to seek help. If people ignore the rules in their country or region it is their problem not the Church’s problem.
Love the light-hearted take on the vegan option.
I do a traditional Lenten fast similar to Eastern Catholicism so I just have a little bit of plain bread (basically a collation of bread) as my one meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I do have black instant coffee though, i need it to function. Plain old bread is delicious when you are hungry.
The general Eastern custom is not so much about avoiding food ebut the types of food. The “strict fast” means no meat (gravies, sauces and soups made with meat are considered meat), eggs, dairy, wine and oil.
Most Eastern Catholic Churches have “watered” this practice down. The Orthodox generally keep this tradition, though it is not considered to be required under “pain of sin.” You do it because you choose to do it as part of your spiritual life.
It is not about how long you can go without eating.
Traditionally, in the East “fasting” is about abstinence from certain foods.
In practice it means eating only vegetables, fruits and breads made without dairy or oil.
As a vocational practice I fast every day except Sunday from the feast of the exaltation of the Cross to Easter Sunday (for me this is one meal, taken in the evening after I pray Evening Prayer, sufficient for the day's nutrition). I never eat flesh meat at any time and I never drink alcohol (I do not want these things, so it's not a sacrifice). During Lent I also eat no fish, dairy, eggs, or added sugar (I do eat fruit)--again, excepting Sundays. Excluding all oils hasn't seemed practical. Because I already fast and abstain, I do something different on the particular "fast days" in the calendar. That is the reason for eating only bread! I've read the Desert Fathers and I'm clearly not that--though it's the one time when I have their experience of living on bread. I'm also a Latin Catholic so I don't feel obliged by exact Eastern practices of course. Since what I do (though with advice of spiritual direction) is done because I choose and want to do that, I don't even assume there is virtue in it. It does however help me to have a better self control about food than I would otherwise have--and it makes it feel like Lent. In my opinion that feeling, not only in the mind but in the body, of it being Lent is what helps turn me to contrition and to God. Intimacy with God is what I'm craving. My eating habits are not something I've ever urged anyone else to do.
Amen.
By the way, fasting and abstinence during Lent doesn't just make Lent feel like Lent... it makes the feast of Easter feel like Easter!
I'm over 60, can I sell my fasting to others? Not sell, ya know, but like let them have it count for them like "earning" indulgences for others? Or is that another example of not really understanding the purpose of the Lenten Fast?