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.
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.
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.
Fasting rules for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday
Fasting rules on Ash Wednesday vary among different Christian denominations. Catholics, for instance, typically avoid eating meat during their fast on this holy day. The church permits young and elderly Catholics to have one full meal and two smaller meals on Ash Wednesday.
Catholics are not allowed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday. Most adults are expected to fast and eat only one full meal per day. Two smaller meals can count for this requirement. Acceptable foods to eat on Ash Wednesday include milk, eggs, fish, grains, fruits and vegetables, according to Forklift and Palate.
Is it OK to remove ashes from forehead on Ash Wednesday? There is no requirement to keep ashes on the forehead all day or for any period of time after they are given, but many Christians choose to keep them on their foreheads throughout the day on Ash Wednesday.
“Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Unlike its discipline regarding sacraments, the Catholic Church does not exclude anyone from receiving sacramentals, such as the placing of ashes on the head, even those who are not Catholics and perhaps not even baptized.
People walk up to the altar using the same process as Communion. The person distributing the ashes marks the recipient's forehead and says either, “Remember that we are dust and unto dust we shall return,” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ's life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection.
Based on this, it is clear that the law only limits food, not beverages. Drinking coffee and tea (which interestingly enough are often treated in the category of medicine in old legal discussions) would be permissible, as would soda, milk, juice, and other liquids.
Such fasting is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk). Alcoholic beverages do not break the fast; however, they seem to be contrary to the spirit of doing penance.
Because of the penitential character of the season of Lent in the Western church, singing or saying the word "alleluia" has historically been suspended during Lent's forty days.
Is Fasting Mandatory? The short answer is yes. Members of the Latin Catholic Church must observe Ash Wednesday and Good Friday in accordance with the church. This means that followers between the ages of 18 and 59 are allowed one full meal, plus two small meals throughout the day.
Fasting before communion rules out all beverages besides water. When fasting at other times (e.g. Fridays in Lent) the Church does not explicitly forbid any kind of beverage so coffee or soda would be permissible.
Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women.
Purple is the most traditional color throughout Lent; but on Ash Wednesday gray, with its suggestion of ashes, is especially appropriate. Dark earth colors or any somber hues are also appropriate.
There is no obligation to leave ashes on the forehead for a particular period of time. Some wipe them off right away, some leave them for the day. Certainly, every Catholic should wipe them away before Easter!
If Ash Wednesday Mass is in the morning, then typically the ashes gradually fade over the course of the day, and so I don't feel bad to wash the residual ash off my face– the ashes served their purpose most throughout the day.
The ash cross marking observers' foreheads is meant to represent mortality and penance for their sins. It is applied by a priest during a morning mass, often along with a small blessing: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." Many choose to keep it on all day.
Daniel 9:3
I then turned my face to my Lord God, asking for an answer with prayer and pleading, and with fasting, mourning clothes, and ashes.
While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), let us humbly ask God our Father that he be pleased to bless, with the abundance of grace, these ashes, which we will put on our heads in penitence.
It marks the first day of Lent in Western churches. The ashes symbolize penance and the dust from which God made people. When priests mark Christian's forehead the ashes they often say, “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Summed up succinctly, Roman Catholics must fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Wednesday, February 22, 2023 and Good Friday, April 7, 2023.