Well, as of yesterday Lent has begun.
But wait, you may ask. Didn't I start giving up chocolate almost a week ago? Didn't I attend a very Catholic fish fry on Friday, and not eat the t-bone steak my stomach was grumbling for?? Didn't I get ashes smeared on my forehead last Wednesday????
You may have. But not for Lent. Exactly.
Let's do the numbers. If you count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, you get 44 days. But Sundays don't count, you say. I ate a chocolate-covered steak on Sunday because they don't count! True, Roman Catholics traditionally don't fast on the Sundays of Lent because every Sunday commemorates the resurrection. But if you take out the 6 Sundays then Lent only has 38 days, and Jesus was in the desert for 40 days according to the gospels.
But what about Good Friday and Holy Saturday, you reply. That makes it 40 days. And it would. Except that Lent ends (and always has) when the Paschal Triduum begins. And the Triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday.
We do fast on Good Friday, but not because it's Lent.
Guess how many days you get if you count from the First Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday? 40. Exactly.
So why the *#$%%@ was I fasting on Ash Wednesday then, you ask.
Well, you were kind of getting ready for Lent. A long time ago, some people in the church thought we might need some practice, so once we got into Lent we would get it right. So they added some days of preparation. The official liturgical names for those days still show that. They're called the Thursday After Ash Wednesday, the Friday After Ash Wednesday, etc. The first day referred to as Lent is the First Sunday. Yesterday.
So the only two days we're required to fast (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) aren't even in Lent, exactly.
Just be glad you're not an Orthodox Catholic. Then the preparation days for Lent start the Monday before the first Sunday. And you can't even eat fish, because the fast is from all animals and animal products. And it's every day and it includes Sundays.
So be glad you're not Orthodox. Unless you are. Then be glad you are. And enjoy the beans.
You may have. But not for Lent. Exactly.
Let's do the numbers. If you count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, you get 44 days. But Sundays don't count, you say. I ate a chocolate-covered steak on Sunday because they don't count! True, Roman Catholics traditionally don't fast on the Sundays of Lent because every Sunday commemorates the resurrection. But if you take out the 6 Sundays then Lent only has 38 days, and Jesus was in the desert for 40 days according to the gospels.
But what about Good Friday and Holy Saturday, you reply. That makes it 40 days. And it would. Except that Lent ends (and always has) when the Paschal Triduum begins. And the Triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday.
We do fast on Good Friday, but not because it's Lent.
Guess how many days you get if you count from the First Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday? 40. Exactly.
So why the *#$%%@ was I fasting on Ash Wednesday then, you ask.
Well, you were kind of getting ready for Lent. A long time ago, some people in the church thought we might need some practice, so once we got into Lent we would get it right. So they added some days of preparation. The official liturgical names for those days still show that. They're called the Thursday After Ash Wednesday, the Friday After Ash Wednesday, etc. The first day referred to as Lent is the First Sunday. Yesterday.
So the only two days we're required to fast (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) aren't even in Lent, exactly.
Just be glad you're not an Orthodox Catholic. Then the preparation days for Lent start the Monday before the first Sunday. And you can't even eat fish, because the fast is from all animals and animal products. And it's every day and it includes Sundays.
So be glad you're not Orthodox. Unless you are. Then be glad you are. And enjoy the beans.
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