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.
On Good Friday, it's tradition to eat fish rather than meat. According to Christians, Jesus sacrificed his flesh on what is now known as Good Friday. This is why traditionally, people abstain from meaty flesh on Good Friday.
Can you eat eggs during Lent? For Catholics, eggs do not count as meat for Lent. For Orthodox Christians, eggs are off limits.
On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, fasting rules allow Catholics to eat only one full meal and two smaller meals which, combined, would not equal a single normal meal. Additionally, Catholics may not eat meat on these two days–or on any Friday during Lent.
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.
In the Christian tradition, Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence, which means that meat, including chicken, is traditionally avoided. So, can you eat chicken on Good Friday? The answer is usually no. As a rule, Catholics from 14 to 60 years old are asked to not eat meat, including chicken on this day.
“If a person knowing it is a Friday during Lent and freely eats meat, he is in disobedience to the discipline of the church in one's relationship with God,” he said. “Like any other sin of disobedience it needs to be confessed and forgiven.”
Catholics aged 14 and older are obliged to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday under pain of mortal sin; Catholics aged 14 and older are obliged to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year or substitute a proportionate penance under pain of at least venial sin.
In Australia, Good Friday is regarded as a national public holiday, and it's one of the only days of the year when nearly all major retailers close their doors. All major supermarkets (ALDI, Coles and Woolworths) will be closed, as well as major liquor stores and retailers like Big W and Kmart.
In Australia, Good Friday is the start of a four-day weekend and falls during the Easter school holidays. Many people take a short vacation around this time, often within Australia. Others take the opportunity to spend time with their family or friends. Members of different churches mark the day in various ways.
Eggs are not considered to be meat because they do not contain any flesh. However, eggs are considered to be poultry by the FDA, which means that they can be sold as such in grocery stores. Many people believe that eggs are meat because they come from animals.
In the medieval period, eating eggs was forbidden during Lent (the 40 days before Easter) so on Easter Sunday, tucking into an egg was a real treat! This was especially true for poorer people who couldn't afford to buy meat.
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.
Household chores, including washing of clothes, were also to be avoided on this holy day as it was thought doing them would bring bad luck on the household for the rest of the year. Having a bath on Good Friday was thought to bring bad luck, especially at 3pm, the time Christ is believed to have died on the cross.
Good Friday is a day of fasting requiring Catholics to refrain from eating meat. Traditionally, there is no Mass and no celebration of the Eucharist on Good Friday. A liturgy may still be performed and communion, if taken, comes from hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday. Church bells are silent.
Major supermarkets Woolworths, Coles and ALDI will be closed on Good Friday, while some IGA stores will remain open for trade.
Alcohol sales on Good Friday
On Good Friday, you can sell and supply liquor from 10am to midnight, but only with a meal, in a part of the premises ordinarily set aside for dining. The meal must be prepared, served and eaten on the premises.
Good Friday is a national public holiday and recognised as a "restricted trading day". This means that some major retailers and venues may be open, but expect the large majority of them, including bottle shops, were closed.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.
It simply meant abstaining from eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals—since the thinking goes, Jesus was a warm-blooded animal. Fish, though, which are cold blooded were considered okay to eat on fasting days. Hence, Fish on Fridays and “Fish Friday” (among many other religious holidays) was born.
Abstaining from eating meat reflects the life of Jesus Christ. "Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays," the Archdiocese said.
Christianity and Lent
During this time, many Christians give up specific foods or actions to reflect on Christ's life, suffering, and sacrifice. Catholics generally don't eat meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or any Friday during Lent, but they do eat fish.
During Lent, it's not an option, and you have to give up meat on Fridays (and Ash Wednesday). Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of fasting, but that's another post!
Since 1970, in the Roman Rite Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on the evening of Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord's Supper. This comprises a period of 44 days. The Lenten fast excludes Sundays and continues through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, totaling 40 days (though the Eucharistic Fast still applies).