Lent food
Lent foods are foods that meet the abstinence requirements of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and are therefore eaten mainly during Lent , sometimes also in Advent and on the quarter days .
Fast
The word comes from ahd. Fast = "hold fast" (to the commandments of abstinence). The abstinence from meat dishes serves to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ and the observance of the third church commandment : You should keep the required days of fast and abstinence .
Fasting was very important in the early Church, but not equally binding on all believers. In the 3rd century, the so-called Easter fast was extended to the entire church. The Easter fasting originally lasted two days, Good Friday and Holy Saturday , but was later extended to six days. Water, bread and salt were allowed to eat for the first four days, and no food was allowed for two days.
In the 4th century - first documented at the Council of Nicaea (325) - this six-day Easter fast became the 40-day fasting period , the quadragesima . Fasting of this length of time cannot be survived without eating, so allowed foods, the fasting foods, had to be specified. The consumption of meat from warm-blooded animals, including roast jus, meat broth or meat stock, is not permitted on days of necessary abstinence . The fasting rules only allowed one filling meal a day. The medieval fasting rules also prohibited the consumption of dairy products , alcohol and eggs during the great fasting period . The Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini Pope Paul VI. 1966 reorganized the regulations on fasting and abstinence.
