By Nicholas Wansbutter, Esq.
Readers of this blog will have noticed, of late, an increased emphasis on the Age of Faith, also known as the Middle Ages. This is because in that period the Catholic faith permeated public and private life in so thorough a manner as has not been reproduced before or since. If we are serious about rebuilding a Christian civilization, we must look to this time of unparalleled Catholicity for instruction and inspiration.
Today, Holy Mother Church requires almost nothing of us during Lent. Yet throughout history, whenever fasting regulations have been relaxed, the popes have urged the faithful to follow the former, stricter rule, if possible. Unfortunately, many of us either try to get away with a little (or as much) as is licit, or we don’t realise the benefits to adopting the older forms. We should remember that no one is forcing us to follow the current norms – it’s never been prohibited or even discouraged to “go above and beyond the call of duty”.
It’s with this in mind that I’ve studied the older regulations and seem to keep going further and further back, until now I’m trying to adopt the mediæval fast because you really can’t get any more Catholic than that. I don’t write this to brag, but to encourage others to add another “radically traditional” aspect to their lives.
The Lenten fasting laws in the Middle Ages varied somewhat from region to region, but all followed St. Gregory the Great’s (590-604) dictum “We abstain from flesh meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese, and eggs” which was ultimately enshrined in the Corpus Juris Canonici.[1] Fish, of course, was not considered “flesh meat” and was allowed as a substitute for meat (a tradition that remains today regarding abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday). The reasoning behind this was that in the Book of Genesis, fish were created on the fifth day, whereas creatures of the earth were created on the sixth – therefore they were considered different orders of creature.[2]
Furthermore, only one meal was taken per day; in the 9th century this was usually in the evening, but by the fifteenth century it had moved to midday.[3] After the ninth century, a parvitas materiae developed (the idea that a small quantity of nourishment which was not taken directly as a meal did not break the fast) and was adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas among others.[4]
The only substantial relaxations came in the fifteenth century, when milk, cheese, and eggs stared to be allowed such that only flesh meat remained subject of abstention. I find it interesting how the relaxation of Church discipline seems to precede great calamities in the Church through history.[5]
Sundays, of course, are never a fast day, and this was true in the Middle Ages equally as it is now. However, in many regions the dietary restrictions remained, but one could eat as much as he wanted.[6]
Most people can’t dive right into such strict fasting after a lifetime of living with the 1983 Code of Canon Law fasting rules, or at least I couldn’t. It takes some time to build-up. So last year I went with the pre-Vatican II rules, and this year I’ve cut out all meat but still have dairy products (next year I shall try to exclude those as well). I still allow myself two snacks during the day since it is not practicable for me to have my main meal of the day at mid-day and would not be able to concentrate on my work without at least something to keep me going. In some regions, it appears that normal amounts of food were eaten throughout the day (three full meals) and the only restriction was on the type of food.
As a person who dearly loves food, and especially meat (outside of Advent and Lent I tend to eat meat at two if not all three meals per day), I find this to be very spiritually beneficial. I notice that I am more patient, kind, and dutiful in my prayer life while fasting. This is because fasting develops self-control and self-mastery. Furthermore, we all have more than enough sins to atone for, and fasting is a good penance in our age where food is so plentiful and readily available. Adopting the older forms helps to unite us with our fellow Catholics through time (corporate penenance).
Posted on the Feast of St. Simeon, Bishop and Martyr, a.D. MMVIII
[1] Thurston, Herbert., “Lent”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +Joannes Cardinal Farley, Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis [2] Wilson, C. Anne. Food and Drink in Britain from the Stone Age to the 19th Century. Chicago: Academy of Chicago Publishers, 1991. p. 38 [3] Cowie, L.W. and John Selwyn Gumm. The Christian Year. Springfield: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1974 [4] Thurston, supra at note 1 [5] The Protestant Revolt came in the 16th century, and Vatican II came in the 20th after relaxations in the 1917 Code of Canon Law. I don’t think that the relaxations in Church discipline caused these calamities. Rather, the reason for relaxation was generally done so as to not cause the faithful to sin by violating the laws. Such changes in discipline could therefore be taken as an indicator of the piety and fervour of the people – and therefore a hint at when chastisement may be in the offing. [6] Thurston, supra at note 1.
