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| Florida newspapers including the Tampa Tribune let readers know about Lent rules in 1900. |
Are your Lenten obligations becoming difficult to observe? Be glad you're not living in 1900.
The March 28, 1900, edition of the Pensacola News reminded Catholics about their Lenten obligations. The article headlined Rules for Lent was eye-opening to my 21st century self:
- Near-daily fasts: Catholics ages 21 to 59 were obligated to fast on all days of Lent except Sundays. That meant only one full meal per day was permitted and only after noon. Exceptions were allowed for sickness, hard work or "other well known reasons." Basically, during Lent a person fasted - meaning restricting the amount of food - for a total of almost 40 days. Today, those fasts are required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, although Catholics are urged to follow them on all Fridays. Rules of abstinence apply on those days, too.
- Fasting facts: Morning sustenance consisted of a cup of coffee, tea or chocolate and one thin cracker or piece of bread. The midday meal would be the full one. The evening collation was about a quarter of the food eaten at a full meal. Butter, cheese, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables and fish were allowed. Notice that no meat or fowl is on that list. A timing exception was allowed when taking the full meal at noon was a "grave inconvenience."
- Meatless meals: No meat was allowed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent, plus Holy Saturday and the Saturday of Ember Week. I'm a practicing Catholic but I had to look up Ember Week. It was at the start of Lent. Saturday of Ember Week meant the Saturday after Ash Wednesday. So, in addition to fasting, these days required abstaining from certain foods.
- No mixing: Catholics couldn't serve meat and fish at the same meal, even on Sundays.
- No dairy: Abstinence from eggs, cheese, milk and butter was recommended for Good Friday.
- Exemptions: People working in strenuous jobs were exempt from fasting but still had to follow abstinence and other restrictions on certain days of the liturgical year. Those allowed to eat meat could have it only at one meal on days of abstinence. And even these working people had to follow the fasting rules on Ash Wednesday, Fridays and Holy Week. Interestingly, the exemptions for working people had only been in effect for five years at that time. The bishops had relaxed the rules in 1895. A March 3, 1900, issue of the Tampa Tribune also noted that those suffering illness, plus growing youth, pregnant and nursing women and the aged were also exempt.
A few things haven't changed quite as much over the past 125 years. The holy season of Lent today -- as back then -- is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But in 1900, it was also a time of seclusion from the world and its amusements. Another issue of the Tampa paper in March 1900 cited club meetings, church gatherings and Red Cross work as acceptable social engagements during Lent. Non-observers would continue filling their social calendars with things like lunch at the yacht club and dances as the Tampa Bay Hotel.
Without going into specifics - and aside from a dedicated prayer life - my modern-day Lenten fasting and almsgiving hardly measure up to those of yesteryear. I'm also reminded of the stricter fasting rules Muslims observe during Ramadan, although they, too, are allowed exemptions under certain conditions.
Lent is a time of reflection and spiritual realignment. Perhaps those old newspaper articles are meant for more than research. I'm no rad-trad Catholic. I'm a believer in the spirit of Vatican II. But there's much to ponder in past practices, including those reaching back 2,000 years to the time of Jesus. Lent is a good time for that contemplation.
