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by Anonymous on January 27th, 2005

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What is the history behind Catholics eating fish on Fridays during Lent?

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Answers. 12 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on March 30th, 2005

    Anonymous

    My Priest explained to me the reason for not eating "warm-blooded" animals during lent started because people were not suppose to have a special food on friday during lent. Since most people were fishermen and fish was in abundance, fish was considered the "non-special" food of the time and "warm-blooded" animals were considered a treat.

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  • by jasroc on February 15th, 2005

    jasroc

    Fish did not "walk upon the Earth" so they were ok to eat during times that "meat" was proscribed.

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  • by Kim Siever on January 28th, 2005

    Kim Siever

    Fridays during Lent are a time to abstain from eating red meat. Since fish is not red meat, it is acceptable to eat.

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  • by KJinCali on April 3rd, 2009

    KJinCali

    Lent is a time of self-reflection and penance. It is a somber time leading up to the celebration of Easter. As such, fasting was a form of sacrifice and coincides with the 40 days that Jesus was without food in the wilderness, during which time he faced Satan's temptations. Ash Wednesday to Easter, not counting Sundays, is 40 days. Changing the church practice to abstaining from eating land animals was a relaxed version of a fast. The idea in the early church was that meat from land animals was much more fatty, rich, and thus, more enjoyable than was fish. So eating fish was a sacrifice. Fish was also thought to be less filling and less noursishing so it kept people's bodies less physically-fueled, so that they could be fueled spiritually through prayer and reflection during the period of abstention from meat. Some non-Catholic Christian denominations have similar traditions such as not eating at all until at least 3PM on Fridays. While that's different from the fish dietary restriction the origin/purpose is the same.

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  • by Davey on January 26th, 2009

    Davey

    Don't you all know? Jesus became someone tantamount to a traffic cop who walks around, consumed with trivial things like whether you obey an absurd canon rule (invented by men, and the same Church that turned a blind eye to little boy raping for forty years) about eating fish on the Friday Lenten period. BTW, since when did the Church have the authority to define fish as NOT being meat? LOL! Give me a break.

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  • by Rachel on April 7th, 2009

    Rachel

    i heard that it was because the people werent eating enough fish, therefore not getting enough mercury and other chemicals in their bodies and were getting sick. theres no other reason for it. thats what someone at my church told me. btw hes not some random guy, hes certified and has taken many classes on Catholicism, so hes very knowledgeable on the matter

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  • by iwnit on April 5th, 2009

    iwnit

    "Converts to Christianity followed a strict catechumenate or period of instruction and discipline prior to baptism. In Jerusalem near the close of the fourth century, classes were held throughout Lent for three hours each day. With the legalization of Christianity (by the Edict of Milan) and its later imposition as the state religion of the Roman Empire, its character was endangered by the great influx of new members. In response, the Lenten fast and practices of self-renunciation were required annually of all Christians, both to show solidarity with the catechumens, and for their own spiritual benefit. The less zealous converts were thus brought more securely into the Christian fold."

    "Fasting during Lent was more severe in ancient times than today. Socrates Scholasticus reports that in some places, all animal products were strictly forbidden, while others will permit fish, others permit fish and fowl, others prohibit fruit and eggs, and still others eat only bread. In some places, believers abstained from food for an entire day; others took only one meal each day, while others abstained from all food until 3 o'clock. In most places, however, the practice was to abstain from eating until the evening, when a small meal without meat or alcohol was eaten.
    During the early Middle Ages, meat, eggs and dairy products were generally proscribed. Thomas Aquinas argued that "they afford greater pleasure as food [than fish], and greater nourishment to the human body, so that from their consumption there results a greater surplus available for seminal matter, which when abundant becomes a great incentive to lust."[9]
    However, dispensations for dairy products were given, frequently for a donation, from which several churches are popularly believed to have been built, including the "Butter Tower" of the Rouen Cathedral. In Spain, the bull of the Holy Crusade (renewed periodically after 1492) allowed the consumption of dairy products[10] and eggs during Lent in exchange for a contribution to the conflict.
    Giraldus Cambrensis in his Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales reports that "in Germany and the arctic regions," "great and religious persons," classified the tail of beavers as "fish" because of its superficial resemblance to a fish and their relative abundance."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

    Further information:
    "Catholic Encyclopedia > L > Lent"
    http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09152a.htm

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  • by Trueword_only_one on October 21st, 2006

    Trueword_only_one

    It is not what goes into a mans body that makes him unclean, for it is what comes out of it that does.....

    greed, envy, evil thaughts, malice...ect.ect..


    tell me catholic brothers.....if im a murderer or an adulterer...and eat fish on fridays does that make me a better christian than a man that follows the word of god and eats meat on fridays.


    you love mans tradition so you will look good to men...but remember...God sees the heart of man....you can wear 12 crucifixes, take a bath in holy water, pray 25 times a day...so man can see this...but god knows your heart....your traditions are foolishness.

    Jesus said you are like whitewashed tombs that look good on the outside but are full of dead mens bones.

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  • by Anonymous on February 26th, 2009

    Anonymous

    Giving things up such as meat, to understand self-discipline and self control, is the purpose (intent) of the practices of Lent. Many traditions followed by the Catholic Church year-round are to teach self control, self-discipline, etc. It is not about "unclean things" entering the body. It is really about not being controlled by your whims...and learning small lessons about self control that will help in other areas of your life.
    Funny that anyone would say Catholics do things to "look good to men, not to God". It is one of the most private, structured, personal, inward-focused, self-disciplined religions that exist. I don't think I've ever seen a Catholic priest who buys time on TV and asks people to give them money! Catholics also don't go door-to-door to recruit members.
    Also, the Catholic church (nor any of the many churches who've had corrupt pastors) did not commit crimes against children..unperfect men did...and that IS a shame and an embarrassment.
    Most people don't understand the Catholic church because they are not self-disciplined enough to even want to understand, or participate in it.

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  • by KJinCali on April 3rd, 2009

    KJinCali

    Lent is a time of self-reflection and penance. It is a somber time leading up to the celebration of Easter. As such, fasting was a form of sacrifice and coincides with the 40 days that Jesus was without food in the wilderness. Ash Wed to Easter not counting Sundays in 40 days. Changing the church practice to abstaining from eating land animals was a relaxed version of a fast. The idea in the early church was that meat from land animals was much more fatty, rich, and thus, more enjoyable than was fish. So eating fish was a sacrifice. Fish was also thought to be less filling and less noursishing so it kept people's bodies less physically-fueled, so that they could be fueled spiritually through prayer and reflection during the period of abstention from meat. Some non-Catholic Christian denominations have similar tradition such as not eating at all until at least 3PM on Fridays. While that's different from the fish dietary restriction the origin/purpose is the same.

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  • by thatsJustme on April 3rd, 2009

    thatsJustme

    roman catholic canon/laws...man's dogma/doctrine/control...:)justme

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  • by vew573 on April 13th, 2011

    vew573

    Lent is supposedly based on Jesus’ 40-day fast after his baptism. Was he then establishing a ritual to be followed yearly? Not at all. This is evident from the fact that the Bible does not record any such practice among the early Christians. Lent was first observed in the fourth century after Christ. Like many other teachings of Christendom, it was borrowed from pagan sources.

    If Lent is in imitation of Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness after his baptism, why is it observed during the weeks leading up to Easter—supposedly the time of his resurrection? Jesus did not fast during the days prior to his death. The Gospel accounts indicate that he and his disciples visited homes and ate meals in Bethany just a few days before he died. And he ate the Passover meal the night before his death.—Matthew 26:6, 7; Luke 22:15; John 12:2.

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