Not So Fast
Monday, February 4th, 2008The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing—as far as quantity and quality are concerned—approved local custom.
Poenitemini, “On Fast and Abstenance”, III.2.
I’m amazed at how much one has to dig to find this statement of things. Mostly the official documents just assume that one knows what the word “fast” means. Of particular note, it’s interesting that the fast mandated for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is so vaguely specified. The custom in the United States is to interpret the “quantity” for the two other meals as though they may not add up to the size of the main meal. That’s a reasonable and, I’d even add, a laudible interpretation, but it’s not specifically required by Poenitemini directly. Perhaps indirectly, since it really does seem to have the force of local custom. (And it’s pretty much what we’ll be doing at La Hacienda this lent, making the appropriate exception for Mrs. Tldz’s nursing of Agent Murphy.)