Lent....Why no meat except fish on Friday???

Question

Ok First of all I am a Catholic, but I do eat meat on Fridays. I want to know why people can eat fish on Fridays and not other meat. Please dont say because its red meat that is a stupid answer. I personally belive if you are going to give up meat DO IT. Either go all meat or none. I personally do not know where this tradition came from and I would like to know but I bet whoever made the rule was (or was friends with) a fisherman and made $$$$ off this.

Anybody have any insight?

Answer 1

I have a couple of theories about it:

In the middle ages, the upper class didn't usually eat fish (which was also considered to be commoners' food); their diet was "land meat," fowl, and bread. So if you take away the meat part, it's a pretty big sacrifice.

The fishing industry pulled at the Vatican and got them to instate it.

Fish flesh isn't the same as land flesh due to the lack of "blood" as most of us see it.


The bottom line for me is that it's supposed to be a SACRIFICE. I can eat brie and bread and olives and have a glass of wine, which would all fall into the restrictions, but wouldn't be a sacrifice.

Answer 2

The not eating meat thing puzzled me (also catholic) for a long time however it is supposed to be about abstinence and remembering Good Friday so it is particularly important to avoid meat on that Friday if you don't do it at any other time. (That's if you're bothered) and the idea that it was a scam from the fish industry is unlikely as I doubt the fishing industry in the middle ages had much pull with the vatican.

Fish is also mentioned alot in the Bible so it's used as a special symbol what with Jesus being a fisher of men etc. Besides it's really nice and it's a good excuse to have fish and chips on a friday night!

Answer 3

IF you are in the Military the Catholic Church exempts you and YOU CAN EAT MEAT ON FRIDAYS!

NOW, hear what the Bible says about eating meat......

(1Timothy 4:1-to-5) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

(1Ti 4:2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

(1Ti 4:3) Forbidding to marry, = = and commanding to abstain from meats, = = which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth.

(1Ti 4:4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

(1Ti 4:5) For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.

Real [John 7:38-39] BIBLICAL Christians DO NOT OBSERVE = = LENT!

Thanks, RR

Answer 4

Fasting and abstaining have been part of the Christian tradition since the begining. Someone above was real quick to spout out some Biblical verses against the practice . . . but they forgot to note the entire section in Matthew where Jesus himself fasted for 40 days in the desert during his temptation. Are Christians not suppose to emulate Jesus?

In fact, the Latin word for Lent 'quadragesima' literally means "fortieth" (i.e. 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness). Our word Lent derives from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning Spring, but literally implying 'lengthen' or 'elongate' -- referring to how the days grow longer during Spring, and how we grow with more love for Christ building up to Easter during this season.

The practice of abstaining from flesh meat is observed in both the Catholic & Eastern Orthodox Rites; therefore, it must have been an devotion universially followed well before the East-West Schism of 1054. Pope Nicholas I (868-898) officially declared Fridays to be the day for eating fish, but it had been unofficially preformed on that day for centuries. Some ultra-conservative Greek Orthodox Christians still abstain from ALL meat & meat products on Fridays (like cheese, eggs, etc).

Someone else made a valid point: it was a sacrifice during the "Middle Ages" to abstain from flesh meat (in particularly beef) ... that only the rich could afford it. This makes logical sense -- HOWEVER -- as a Classicist and Historian; I have yet to come across any bona fide documentation to validate this legend.

The earliest instructions on Christian fasting comes from a Greek source called the Didache (also called "The Teachings Of the 12 Apostles"). Composed around 80-131 AD/CE, it isn't cannon (i.e. officially part of our Bible); but many early communities used it as part of their sacred scrpitures before what we now consider "The Bible" was compiled in the 4th Century AD/CE. Before "The Bible" dictated what was holy scripture and what wasn't, each community used their own set of books for doctrine. Sources like the Didache gives us a better idea of life for early Christians.

Before The 2nd Vatican Council (1965-1968), all Catholics were required to abstain from flesh meat on EVERY friday (except if a friday fell on Christmas Day). Vatican II tried to modernize the Church; and as a compromise the bishops decided to drop the fasting on every friday in favor of just during Lent.

Like everything else in Catholicism, our traditions are timeless, so it's hard to answer "why" we do something when it's been done for so long, no one can remember the original reason anymore.

Answer 5

I don't know the answer but I'll refer you to Father K (he's Anglican not Catholic.) He just asked for fish recipes last week. You can get to his profile from mine as he's in my network.