Lent, the forty-day period of preparation for Easter, begins on Wednesday. During this penitential season, Christians prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus through “deepening their faith, reconciliation, and self-denial,” according to a statement from the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The statement emphasizes that abstaining from meat alone is not considered a true act of fasting.
In ancient and medieval times, consuming meat was a rare and festive occasion, making its renunciation a fitting expression of sorrow and self-denial.
In modern times, people may ask themselves what habit or attachment in their lives they would be willing to give up “as a sign of humility before God” during Lent.
The statement also notes that the forty-day fast became widespread in the Christian world by the 4th century. Sundays are not considered fasting days by the Church, as they are meant to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Since the 7th century, Lent has begun on a Wednesday, starting from Ash Wednesday and lasting until Easter Sunday, making the number of fasting days exactly forty.
Until the 11th century, fasting was so strict that people ate nothing until late afternoon and completely abstained from meat, dairy, and eggs on fasting days.
Today, the Church has eased the fasting regulations, but strict fasting is still required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: Catholics between the ages of 18 and 60 may eat only one full meal and have two smaller portions that do not add up to a full meal.
In Hungary, this rule is observed as allowing three meals a day, with only one being a full meal. On these two days, as well as on all Fridays during Lent, the Church asks its members over the age of 14 to refrain from eating meat as part of their Lenten discipline.
The Greek Catholic Church begins its Lenten season on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, the statement added.
(MTI)
