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. Fish is viewed as a different kind of flesh, and so is favoured over meat on Good Friday.
Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday in Lent (including Good Friday). Fish is often used as a substitute for meat-based meals.
Catholics are actually not required by the Church to eat fish on Fridays. In the dioceses of the United States, however, those Catholics age 14 onwards are required to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. Not doing so would be a sin against God and His Church.
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.
As Jesus sacrificed his own flesh on Good Friday, traditionally Catholics abstain from eating meaty flesh on this day. Instead, fish is considered a more favourable type of animal product to eat.
Their tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve is thought to have emerged from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat until the Christmas Day feast. As no meat or animal fat could be used on such days, observant Catholics would eat fish instead.
While most believe it to be a religious obligation, giving up meat on Christmas Eve is actually more a popular custom. The Catholic Church specifies the days on which meat is to be avoided (seafood doesn't count as meat), but it doesn't include the day before Christmas (unless it falls on a Friday).
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.
The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat on the eve of a feast day. As no meat or animal fat could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish (typically fried in oil).
The question drew more than 300 responses. “Catholic teachings tell us to refrain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance," Sheila Wolf LeBouef wrote. "Friday is a day of penitence, as it is believed Christ died on a Friday. Everyone has the right to either eat meat or not.
Second, we should note that we are not required to eat fish on Fridays; we are to abstain from meat. In the Latin, we are told to abstain from carnis, which from the most ancient of times has always meant the meat of things that walk on the ground.
Dried, salted cod was a common fish-on-Friday meal for 16th-century Catholics. Herring as the traditional Friday fish gave way to cod, introduced by the Vikings, the people of what is now southern Scandinavia.
One such tradition that is well known among Catholics around the world is the practice of only eating fish on Fridays during the Lenten season.
In Catholicism
In the United States in 1966, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops passed Norms II and IV that bound all persons from age fourteen to abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent and through the year.
Up until 1966 Church law prohibited meat on all Fridays throughout the entire year. The new law was promulgated in 1983 in the revised Code of Canon Law which states, “Abstinence [is] to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Canon 1251).
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.
The significance of the seven fishes has a number of symbolic representations: the number of sacraments, the seven days of creation, the seven virtues, the seven deadly sins and the seven days it took Mary and Joseph to reach Bethlehem before baby Jesus was born.
The tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve comes from the Roman Catholic practice of not eating dairy or meat on the eve of some holidays, including Christmas. And the number seven is a symbol that's repeated many times throughout the Bible – and in Catholicism, there are seven sacraments and deadly sins.
Typical "fishes" include baccalà (salt cod), frutti di mare (shellfish), capitone (eel), calamari (squid), scungilli (conch meat) and vongole (clams). Fried vegetables are also a popular accompaniment to the fish; expect fried artichokes, pickled vegetables, fried squash blossoms, and other treats.
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.
Eggs, though from chickens, are not the flesh of an animal. They are still an animal source of protein and thus a complete protein, but aren't actually meat.
"`Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales--whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water--you are to detest.
Sweden. Christmas dinner is called Julbord in Sweden. The meal starts with cold fish and meats before moving on to hot dishes. There's an abundance of herring at the dinner table, served both pickled and in herring salad.
Denmark. "It's time for the herring to swim!" "In Denmark it is a tradition to gather family and friends around the lunch table during the Christmas holiday.
Countries that celebrate with carp
Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic are the main carp eaters at Christmas time. But there are also many families in Austria, Germany, and Croatia who celebrate Christmas with carp.