Patrick's Day, dioceses say. In the Catholic faith, eating meat is generally not allowed on Fridays during lent, but bishops across the area are making an exception this Friday because it's St. Patrick's Day.
In the Catholic faith, eating meat is generally not allowed on Fridays during Lent, but the National Catholic Survey said more than 70% of bishops are granting an exception for this Friday, March 17 because it falls on Saint Patrick's Day.
It falls on a Friday during Lent, when the faithful abstain from eating meat, so there's no celebrating with the traditional corned beef.
Diocese of Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus has granted a “dispensation from the rule of abstinence on Friday, March 17, 2023,” he announced in Friday's Catholic Free Press, meaning Catholics can eat the corned beef.
Catholics fast from red meat or white meat, i.e. warm-blooded mammals or birds. Those under 14 and 65 or older are exempt from fasting. Though you may miss meat some days, you can still eat delicious meals during Lent, even on Fridays.
However, moral theologians have traditionally taught that we should abstain from all animal-derived products (except foods such as gelatin, butter, cheese and eggs, which do not have any meat taste). Fish are a different category of animal.
The law of abstinence forbids the eating of meat (of mammals and birds). However, eggs, milk products, fish, shell fish, and all other cold blooded animals may be eaten, e.g. snails.
Corned beef is safe to eat once its internal temperature has reached at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit and has stood for about 20 minutes after removing it from heat, USDA recommends.
Here's why: meat was at one point considered an indulgence, so abstaining from meat on certain days is intended as a form of penance and a way for Christians to honor Jesus' sacrifice of his flesh on Good Friday. That means no meat from birds, cows, sheep, or pigs.
No, neither the Church nor the Bible says that eating meat is a sin. In the book of Acts, St. Peter is instructed by God to slaughter and eat any animal (15:9-15). The Church asks us to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays of Lent as a penance, but that is not because eating meat is inherently sinful.
St. Patrick's Day this year coincides with Lenten Friday, when Catholics traditionally abstain from meat. But after several dioceses across the United States granted dispensations, some Catholics will be able to indulge.
The Church asked Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent in memory of Good Friday, the day the Bible says Jesus died on the cross, Riviere said. Meat was chosen as a sacrifice because it was a celebratory food.
Lent is a 40-day period of prayer and sacrifice celebrated by the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations. The period runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. While different groups may observe Lent in different fashions, one common tenet is the abstention of red meat and poultry on Fridays.
Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.
Everyone 14 years of age or older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, all the Fridays of Lent and Good Friday.
Lent, which typically is the time period from Ash Wednesday through Easter, is meant to be observed with self-sacrifice, prayer and other religious activities leading up to Easter, and one of the rituals is not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, abstinence laws say meat is considered something that comes only from animals that live on land, like chicken, cows, sheep or pigs. Fish are considered a different category of animal.
“Each Friday during Lent is actually referred to as Days of Penance,” the 33-year-old said. “If someone unintentionally eats meat by accident without willfully knowing they've done wrong, it's not a sin. I usually suggest they make sure to sacrifice something else in its place to make up for eating meat.”
Flesh meat includes the meat of mammals and poultry, and the main foods that come under this heading are beef and pork, chicken and turkey. While flesh is prohibited, the non-flesh products of these animals are not, things like milk, cheese, butter, and eggs. Fish do not belong to the flesh meat category.
Corned beef is meat that has been cured in a salt solution. Before refrigeration, meat was salted and cured to be preserved. Historically, any type of meat could be put through the curing process that makes what we know as corned beef today. In the U.S., corned beef is made from beef brisket.
A processed meat, according to the panel, has been modified from its natural state, either “through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation.” This includes sausages, hot dogs, corned beef, beef jerky, canned meat, meat sauces, lunch meats and bacon.
Corned beef typically is made by salt-curing beef. Usually, brisket is used, as it is a tough cut of meat that's made tender by a long, salt-filled cooking process. The brine used to cook the brisket down into corned beef is not unlike a pickling liquid.
Catholic Fasting Rules
Catholics age 14 and older do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, including Good Friday. Instead of meat many Catholics choose to eat fish - which is why many parishes around the country have fish fries on Fridays during Lent.
The only dietary restrictions specified for Christians in the New Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals" (Acts 15:29), teachings that the early Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, preached for believers to follow.
What are the Lent rules on abstinence? In this context, abstinence refers to “abstaining” from meat on Fridays during Lent. Whereas Catholics fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with just one large meal, Catholics must refrain from eating meat on other Fridays, though they can have three full meals.