Catholics, Lent, Friday, St Patrick's day, Corned Beef....

[johnnie]

I was raised in a Catholic family and I went through the whole Lent thing when I was a kid. As a sacrifice to the Lord you abstain from eating meat on Fridays unless St Patrick's day falls on one. I know many of you are aware of this, but I still question this.

A few years ago I got all kinds of shit from Catholics when I asked if their corned beef was more important than the sacrifice they make during lent..lol. I wasn't being hard on them, I just wanted to know why they didn't abstain from meat when St. Paddy's day falls on a Friday during Lent.

Now it falls on a Friday again this year and I'm sure the Arch Diocese all over will once again drop the sacrifice to Jesus and allow the eating of corned beef for St. Paddy.

I just find it funny is all.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I always remember getting a dispensation to eat corned beef

on St. Paddy's day.

the thing I find funny is that not eating meat is supposed to be a sacrifice, so you really shouldn't go out and eat lobster.

[Debi]

5. OH MAN....you just screwed up my next five Friday night dinners n/t

[johnnie]

8. I remember getting it too

But my question is "Why?". It's not like it was something that was part of Catholicism in the beginning. It just cracks me up that the sacrifice that is being shown for Jesus and his fasting before he was put to death is excused once every few years because the corned beef is more important.

[Debi]

12. Do you honestly expect the Catholic Church to make sense? n/t

[meow2u3]

30. With the price of seafood, not eating meat IS a sacrifice

On your wallet, especially if you're of modest means.

[Midlodemocrat]

38. What I meant was that I found it funny that people would

forgo the pot roast or roast chicken in favor of shrimp or lobster or crab or some other seafood dish. Heaven forbid we stick with fish sticks.

[Debi]

2. Usually given dispensation when St. Patty's day falls on a Friday

I feel sorry for all those Catholics who gave up beer for Lent :beer: as least there will be plenty of designated drivers.

[SoCalDem]

3. Military families were always "excused" from the "meat on Friday" thing

I always thought it was funny..like being in the military, on a base, meant that meat was a necessity or something..

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. It's because the abstaining from meat thing started during war

so that the military could have more meat.

[TheProphetess]

4. Perhaps I'm not an expert - I'm not Irish Catholic, I'm Italian Catholic

So we never ate meat on a Friday during Lent, even if it was St. Pat's Day. We just drank more green beer, I suppose. :)

Truthfully, my parents never really pushed the fasting idea but we did give up meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent plus we gave up something that we really enjoyed. I always failed at the giving up something for Lent tradition so I don't even attempt it anymore. I still do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.

[Debi]

9. Are you my twin?

That's the same with our family (yes, Italian Catholic and no meat on Friday's of Lent)

We always fasted on Ash Wed. and on Good Friday we'd stay up until midnight and then cook steaks for a late-late dinner.

My mom gave up anger for Lent this year....other peoples anger...if you're pissed off at her you're just going to have to wait until Easter to act on it :P (I'm pretty sure she was joking).

[TheProphetess]

18. Could be!

I love your mom's sacrifice, by the way. Giving up other people's anger is good. I've tried giving up soda, chocolate, candy in general, swearing, etc., and I never could do it. Most of the time I'd accidentally slip because I wasn't paying attention and just plain forgot about it. Could be that I'm weak, too. :evilgrin:

[Debi]

19. I think Lent was created to insure that we would all screw up and

think we were going to hell.

(Then we'd give more money to the church during Christmas to make up for our failures during Lent...) what do you think? :shrug:

[TheProphetess]

20. It sounds as reasonable as any other reason I've heard

:toast:

[WolverineDG]

25. I gave up chocolate 3 years in a row

I now have "time off for good behavior" during Lent & never have to give anything up again! :evilgrin:

dg

[fishwax]

22. that sounds like a fun tradition

the staying up until midnight and then cooking steaks thing. I've never heard of that, but it sounds like it must have been fun :)

[Debi]

27. It probably wasn't within the whole 'sacrafice' thing, but we were so

close to the end (I mean all we had was an eight hour - or so it felt like it- chruch service on Saturday night and then EASTER!!!!!)

[johnnie]

13. That's how our family was/is

Plus we all had to remain quiet from 1 to 3 on Good Friday.

[fishwax]

23. You had to remain quiet?

That's another new one to me :) (though, perhaps, it rings a vague bell ...)

Did you get the day off school, then?

[johnnie]

24. Yeah, I think it was part of spring break

That was supposed to be the time that Jesus hung on the cross..lol. I don't know, I just listened to what mom told me.

[fishwax]

26. that's interesting. I think I

remember doing that one year, but it definitely wasn't a major part of our tradition, probably b/c we often had school on good friday.

We never got special dispensation for st. patty's day, either--perhaps our diocese wasn't irish enough :rofl:

[Kat45]

35. My mother said they had to be quiet from 1-3 when she was growing up.

THat's the way she learned it. Fortunately, she didn't try to make me do it, though she still did it herself. This was when I was little; she eventually didn't do it anymore.

[tjwmason]

6. S. Patrick's day is a celebration - literally a feast.

One cannot feast and fast at the same time.

The rules of fasting and abstinence automatically stop when a major feast is on one - this is why Sundays don't count as part of Lent (count the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to check).

[1gobluedem]

10. Special dispensation has been given

to Irish Catholics in SE Michigan to eat corned beef on St. Patrick's Day. I don't know about the rest of the state.

There is also a restaurant in the downriver area that has a tradition of serving muskrat on Fridays during Lent; their rationale is it's aquatic so it's okay. It would take a lot more than that for me to try it.

[bigwillq]

11. MMMM.Corned Beef!

YUMMY! :bounce:

[johnnie]

15. Oh Yeah!

We have a vendor that brings in some of the "best" corned beef sandwiches in Cleveland every year for St. Paddy's day.

[bigwillq]

17. I don't obey those Catholic rules

so I'll be eating plenty of corned beef this year! :bounce:

[CBHagman]

14. We got our special dispensation last Sunday.

(Imagine George Carlin, on his "Class Clown" album of 30 or so years ago, intoning that phrase, "Special dispensation.").

Seriously, it was announced that we had a special dispensation to eat meat on St. Patrick's Day, but we were encouraged to observe some other sort of sacrifice. Specifics were not given!

[Bridget Burke]

16. In semi-rural Texas, we were far from any Irish neighborhoods....

If St Patrick's day fell on a Friday, it was business as usual. In the school cafeteria, that meant FISH STICKS!

[begin_within]

21. In one of Richard Lederer's books of bloopers there is this from a...

... church Sunday bulletin:
"The bishop has dispensed with the obligation of eating meat on St. Patrick's Day."

[hunter]

28. Thank God for the Irish.

:toast:

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

29. Here in Chicago the Archdiocese announced it in the papers today.

Now I can cook and eat corned beef, spuds, cabbage and carrots next Friday and not have any guilt. However, we're supposed to "give up" something else.

I think I'll give up going out that night and watching all the ersatz Irish making fools of themselves on the southwest side of Chicago.

[Bridget Burke]

41. I'm on the mailing list for Chief O'Neill's Pub....

Chief O’Neill’s (“The Pub You’ve Been Practicing For”) is proud to announce its 6th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. Chief O’Neill’s has a well-earned reputation as one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Parties in Chicago, with fabulous food, libations and first-class entertainment.

Chief O’Neill’s heated tent, in the comfortable and spacious 2000 square foot garden, will feature a celebration of Irish favorite foods served buffet style. Chief O’Neill’s will be offering our famous Corned Beef, highly acclaimed Irish Lamb Stew, and the legendary Chief O’Neill’s Fish & Chips, as well as Soups, Salads and many more delicious offerings.

www.chiefoneillspub.com/St.PatsDetails.html

Many St Patrick's celebrations in Houston feature Crawfish boils.

[pitohui]

31. oh and the sacrifice of eating the entire st. joseph's altar

get out yr forks and knives!

st. joseph's day is on the 19th

[Gormy Cuss]

32. I thought the rule was that Sundays and other holy days

aren't part of Lent and since they made him a saint, it's not that much of a stretch.Frankly, I think the proper observance would be to eat only blighted potatoes from the bottom of the barrel on that day ;-)

The city of Boston and a few other spots in Massachusetts commemorate a colonial event as a paid holiday on March 17th, Evacuation Day --- just a coincidence that it happens to be St. Pats.
:rofl:

[greatauntoftriplets]

33. Archdiocese of Chicago always used to get a dispensation.

I suppose they still do, but I long ago gave up Lent for Lent.

[SOteric]

34. Another Italian Catholic checking in.

St. Patrick's Day, even when it fell on a Friday, never came with an indulgence for the eating of meat in our family. Well, actually, in the entire neighbourhood.

[nutsnberries]

39. and another one. I grew up about 30 miles from Boston....

lots of Irish Catholics and Italian Catholics around.

I remember the dispensation for St.Pat'sDay but since we were Italian, we ate our St.Pat's Meal the day before or after, and ALWAYS abstained from meat on Friday in Lent... and Ash Wednesday.

My mom also encouraged us to pray from 12-3 on Good Friday. She said we didn't need to be silent, but we should be reverent and pray when we could at school. She would go to the Church and pray at the Stations of the Cross.

It was never any sacrifice for me to eat fish though, I always prefered it to meat... and even now... it would be more of a sacrifice to me if you MADE me eat meat. :shrug:


I agree johnnie, the dispensation IS odd.

[DS1]

42. Less room for beer?

:hide:

[July]

36. Mmmmmmm . . . corned beef.

Seriously, I was raised Catholic and missed this entire issue. I did eat a lot of corned beef, which was mandatory in 99% Irish South Buffalo. My Italian mother makes a mean corned beef, her one concession to my Irish Dad.

[mdmc]

37. I'm allowed to eat corned beef on St. Paddy's day in NY

it is kosher here.:kick:

[Bridget Burke]

40. The truly devout could settle for Irish Salmon....

And oysters are also traditional...

Our own Galveston Bay oysters are surprisingly good. Don't laugh! And we're still in the R months.

[Beware the Beast Man]

43. If the Church really wanted to make it tough on Catholics today,

they would ask us to sacrifice carbs, not meat. I can live without meat for one day. Bread, pasta, chips, etc.- now that would be penance.