Page Contents
Can You Eat Eggs On Friday During Lent
You can eat eggs on Friday during Lent. However, there are some guidelines that you should follow. For instance, you should only eat eggs that do not have any salt or any other kind of spices added to them. Also, they should be fully cooked.
Q. I understand Fridays during the Lenten season are days when you are not allowed to have any meat, but I am not sure what qualifies as meat. Many do not know it, but Catholics are technically required to abstain from meat all Fridays throughout the year (except for High Holy Days) — not just in Lent. Those Catholics who did not fast all forty days during Lent did so on Good Friday, and they also abstained on all Fridays in Lent. While in the past it was customary to abstain from meat on Good Friday and also throughout the month of Lent (the forty days leading up to the Easter celebration), most believers observe this fasting during the month of Lent.
The Catholic Church specifies that all Catholics aged fourteen years or older should abstain from meat and products containing meat every Friday during the month of Lent, including Good Friday and Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent, Catholic adults 14 years and older refrain from eating meat. Every person age 14 and older is required to abstain from eating meat on all other Fridays throughout the year, unless substituting for abstinence another form of penance.
Although it is not specifically stated in Scripture that meat is forbidden on Ash Wednesday, the Code of Canon Law clarifies that Catholics must refrain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, and also from eating meat on Good Friday during the entire Lenten season. There are occasions in which Catholics are expected to refrain from eating meat, and not many exceptions to the rule.
Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to Catholics core rules for Lenten abstinence, and knowing exactly what is required in terms of fasting and abstinence is helpful. If you are a regular reader of The Pillar, then you are likely familiar with the basics for fasting and abstinence during the Lenten season. Consider this post your comprehensive, one-stop-shop for all of the Lent Catholic fasting rules you need to know.
Check this article, Can You Eat Chicken On Fridays During Lent to learn more about the food you can eat during lent Friday
After all, you want to follow the Catholic Lent Fasting Rules, but you will always need a little refresher that helps you remember what they are. While Lent is not mandatory for all Christians, people who do observe it get mixed up in terms of what they are allowed to eat, and what they are not allowed to. There is much confusion surrounding what Catholics are allowed to eat, and what they should avoid, during Lent. Maybe you are a practicing Christian fasting on Ash Wednesday, and wondering what you can – and cannot – eat in Lent.
| What to eat on Friday during Lent | What not to eat on Friday during Lent |
| Lamb | Eggs |
| Chicken | Milk |
| Beef, pork, ham | Fish |
| Deer and most other meats | Grains, fruits, and vegetables |
Fasting is the reason that some areas of the West have developed a tradition of Fat Tuesday, a day preceding the beginning of Lenten Fasting on Ash Wednesday. Abstinence continues throughout all 40 days of Lent, leading to the day known as Fat Tuesday. Abstain continued for the entire 40 days of Lent, resulting in a tradition called Fat Tuesday.
Today, Catholics and some other Christians still refrain from eating meat on the Fridays of Lent, eating just one meal, with two smaller snacks allowed, or fasting for the entire two days. In the earliest years of Christianity in Europe, the Catholic Church established a practice of asking believers to refrain from eating meat on Fridays to commemorate the death of Christ. The Catholic Church requires Catholics to refrain from eating meat on Fridays during the Lenten season, to commemorate Good Friday, the day in Scripture when Jesus died on the cross, says Riviere.
Ash Wednesday is also the last Friday of Lent, the Catholics 40-day-long observance where Catholics refrain from eating meat on Good Friday. Fridays of Lent Lent is an obligatory day of total abstinence (from meat) for anyone reaching their 14th year.
In addition to the Fast of Good Friday, Catholics have traditionally chosen to engage in extra penitential practices throughout Lent. The Sundays of Lent are definitely part of the Time of Lent, but are not prescribed days for fasting and abstinence.
The Church is quite okay with its followers eating pork, so long as they generally refrain from eating meat during their prescribed days of fast and abstinence. With all of the laws regarding abstinence being enforced during the Fast, the only days it seems that Christians are prohibited from eating meat during their Fast are all on Fridays and Ash Wednesdays. Many Catholics observe abstinence all Fridays throughout the month of Lent, choosing fish instead of flesh-based meats (beef, pork, poultry, etc.). To clear up any confusion there, abstinence days during Lent are about meat, not abstaining from sex – in the regular context of Church moral teaching, of course.
One thing that the church does remind us is that, to remain within the spirit of the 40 days of Lent, meals should be moderate in nature during those periods. The church tells us, among other things, that, to keep the spirit of the days in which meat is forbidden, meals must be modest at this time. Also, Catholics aged between 18-59 are expected to fast on Good Friday, meaning that they are expected to only have a single, complete meal with no meat.
On all other days of the week, Catholics eat as they normally would (unless they choose to also volunteer something to abstain from during the Lenten season). During Lent, Catholics eat less than normal; most adults typically forgo snacks and have one big meal and two smaller meals throughout the day. Many Catholics also give up some of their favorite treats during Lent, including chocolates and chicken snacks. While meat might be missed on certain days, it is possible to still have a tasty meal throughout Lent, including Fridays.
Today, though, most Catholics adhere to Catholic rules about Lent fasting, because we accept that, in the end, Lent is best for our spiritual health (and, in the end, because the Catholic Church says so). It turns out that since, according to Christian doctrine, Jesus Christ died on a Friday, Friday fasting became a way of honouring Jesus sacrifice. This rule was changed from requiring fasting on all Fridays to just the ones falling within the Holy Season.
Learn more about Can You Eat Eggs On Ash Wednesday, my detailed article
Why were eggs off-limits for Lent?
Bishops and theologians who concentrated on church law further limited the sorts of food that were permitted: no meat or animal goods, dairy, or eggs were allowed to be consumed at all during Lent, not even on Sundays. It was meant to prevent self-indulgence during this time of making amends for wrongdoing.
What do you eat on Friday during Lent?
Catholics above the age of 14 who are adults also refrain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and every Friday throughout Lent. Lamb, chicken, beef, hog, ham, deer, and the majority of other meats are not permitted to be consumed at these times. Eggs, milk, fish, grains, fruits, and vegetables are all permitted, though.