Lent

"The springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open."

How many days in Lent?

"Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: 'For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning.' By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert" (CCC, 540).

There are several different ways to count 40 days. In this table, I skip the Sundays during Lent on the theory that "every Sunday is a little Easter." The period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (inclusive) then numbers 40 days.

Sun		1st Sunday	2nd Sunday	3rd Sunday	Laetare Sunday	5th Sunday	Palm / Passion Sunday	Easter
Mon		5	11	17	23	29	35
Tue		6	12	18	24	30	36
Wed	Ash Wednesday 1	7	13	19	25	31	37
Thu	2	8	14	20	26	32	Holy Thursday 38
Fri	3	9	15	21	27	33	Good Friday 39
Sat	4	10	16	22	28	34	Holy Saturday 40

The Eastern Churches begin Lent on Clean Monday and end it on Holy Thursday.

Sun		1st Sunday	2nd Sunday	3rd Sunday	4th Sunday	5th Sunday	Palm / Passion Sunday	Easter
Mon	Clean Monday 1	7	13	19	25	31	37
Tue	2	8	14	20	26	32	38
Wed	3	9	15	21	27	33	39
Thu	4	10	16	22	28	34	Holy Thursday 40
Fri	5	11	17	23	29	35	Good Friday
Sat	6	12	18	24	30	36	Holy Saturday

Fast and abstinence

American Catholic.

Fasting as explained by the U.S. bishops means partaking of only one full meal. Some food (not equaling another full meal) is permitted at breakfast and around midday or in the evening—depending on when a person chooses to eat the main or full meal.

Abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, milk products or condiments made of animal fat.

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 not forbidden. So it is permissible to use margarine and lard. Even bacon drippings which contain little bits of meat may be poured over lettuce as seasoning"

Crocodiles, lizards, and snakes

Compendii Theologiae Moralis (Sabetti-Barrett) n. 331

Nomine carnis veniunt omnia animalia in terra viventia ac respirantia, ut communiter admittunt theologi ex regula tradita a S. Thoma vel, ut S. Alphonsus innuit, n. 1011, animalia quae sanguinem habent calidum; vel illud quod consuetudo regionis ut carnem habet; vel, si nec consuetudo praesto sit, dubium solvi potest considerando mentem Ecclesiae in sanciendo delectu ciborum, ut comprimendae ac minuendae carnis concupiscentiae per salutarem abstinetiam consuleret; examinetur, an huiusmodi animal simile sit aut dissimile iis quorum esus interdictus est et an illius carnes humano corpori validius nutriendo et roborando idoneae dignoscantur; et si ita appareat, ista caro inter vetitas est ponenda. Benedict XIV., De syn. dioec., lib.11, c. 5, n. 12. Haec quatuor multum deservient omni dubitationi solvendae.

Crocodrilli et lacertae inter reptilia sunt et amphibia.

Fish Tales

"Lust, Lies And Empire: The Fishy Tale Behind Eating Fish On Friday."

Fish fasting days became central to the growth of the global fishing industry. But not because of a pope and his secret pact.

After Henry became smitten with Anne Boleyn, English fish-eating took a nosedive. The king broke off from the Roman Catholic Church, declared himself the head of the Church of England and divorced his wife so he could marry Anne. Suddenly, eating fish had become political. Fish was seen as a " 'popish flesh' that lost favour as fast as Anglicism took root," as Kate Colquhoun recounts in her book Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking.

Fishermen were hurting. So much so that when Henry's young son, Edward VI, took over in 1547, fast days were reinstated by law — "for worldly and civil policy, to spare flesh, and use fish, for the benefit of the commonwealth, where many be fishers, and use the trade of living."

As one economic analysis noted, U.S. fish prices plummeted soon after Pope Paul VI loosened fasting rules in the 1960s.

• Michael Foley, Why Do Catholics Eat Fish On Friday?

Technically, it's the flesh of warmblooded animals that's off limits — an animal "that, in a sense, sacrificed its life for us, if you will," explains Michael Foley, an associate professor at Baylor University and author of Why Do Catholics Eat Fish On Friday?

Fish are coldblooded, so they're considered fair game. "If you were inclined to eat a reptile on Friday," Foley tells The Salt, "you could do that, too."

• Brian Fagan, Fish on Friday.

Friday after Thanksgiving

"The Friday after Thanksgiving Day indult ... "

A friendly and tasty reminder that there is a strong argument to be made that there is no required abstinence from meat this Friday.

While always a topic of great discussion, it is a fact that Pope Pius XII granted Americans a dispensation from their Friday abstinence, so that they may enjoy turkey the Friday after Thanksgiving. I say "enjoy" turkey because that is truly the only reason he would have granted it -- the arguments over refrigeration and whether meat would spoil don't hold water since wide-spread, in-home refrigeration (as well as cable TV) actually did exist in the 1950s.

So eat your turkey this Friday and give great thanks to a merciful God for all that we have to be thankful for. And, while you're at it, thank and pray for Pope Pius XII before you dive into that turkey, that he may be canonized a saint soon.

Warming up for Lent

"How St. Gregory the Great Prepared the Church for Lent."

• Septuagesima Sunday: "seventieth" day before Easter
• Sexagesima Sunday: "sixtieth" day before Easter
• Quinquagesima Sunday: "fiftieth" day before Easter
• Quadragesima: "fortieth"

Links

• Sundays of Lent