Lenten supper

A Lenten supper is a meal that takes place in the evenings to break the day's fast during the Christian liturgical season of Lent, which is widely observed by members of the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, Methodist, and United Protestant traditions, in addition to certain Reformed denominations.[1][2]

Lenten suppers often consist of a vegetarian soup, bread and water in order to maintain the season's focus on abstinence, sacrifice and simplicity.
A Lenten supper prepared according to the diet specified in the Daniel Fast: this particular meal includes black bean spaghetti, quinoa, and mixed vegetables composed of cucumbers, mushrooms, microgreens, arugula, and baby carrots.

History

The origin of the Lenten supper lies in the early Church, when Christians would fast from food and water until sunset and then consume a Lenten supper once sundown occurred.[3] The Apostolic Constitutions only allowed for "bread, vegetables, salt and water" in the Lenten supper, with meat, lacticinia, and alcohol being forbidden.[4] For the final week of Lent—Holy Week—only bread and salt was permitted by the Canons of Hippolytus for the Lenten supper.[4] The post-Nicene church father John Chrysostom recorded that "no flesh was eaten during the whole of Lent."[4]

Practice

Lenten suppers occur daily from Mondays through Saturdays at sunset during the Lenten season in the context of Christian family life (if that family is observing all forty days of Lent through fasting); in a communal context, they are often held on Wednesdays (though they can be held any day[s] on Monday through Saturday) on which Christians of various denominations often attend a service of worship and then break that day's Lenten fast together through a community Lenten supper. The traditional Black Fast of Lent is kept by not eating during the day and then breaking the fast after sunset; the Eucharistic Fast enjoins fasting before the reception of Holy Communion, with the duration of this fast depending on the denomination.[upper-alpha 1][6][1][7][8]

Lenten suppers are often held in the church's parish hall in the public setting and in the context of a family meal in the home setting.[6][9] A Mealtime Prayer is always offered before Christians partake in the Lenten supper. When they are held on Fridays, often following the Stations of the Cross devotion, they often take the form of a fish fry given that many Christians (especially Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and Anglicans) practice abstinence from meat on Fridays.[10][11][12][13] Given the Lenten focus on sacrifice, abstinence and plainness, Lenten suppers are simple, having foods like vegetarian soup (such as carrot soup), bread and water, with no desserts (as many people practice vegetarianism and teetotalism as a Lenten sacrifice).[1][6]

Christians of various traditions, who have voluntarily undertaken the Daniel Fast during the season of Lent, would consume Lenten suppers made from vegetables, fruits, lentils, beans, seeds and nuts, with meat, lacticinia and wine being excluded (cf. Daniel 10:3).[14][15][16] A basket for alms is often kept in the parish hall and Christians who are participating in the Lenten supper contribute to it; these alms are then given to the poor, as almsgiving is one of the three pillars of Lent.[1] In some communities, Lenten suppers are an expression of Christian ecumenism, with Wednesday Lenten services that are followed by Lenten suppers being held at a different denomination's local church each week of Lent (e.g. Catholic, Moravian, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and Reformed).[1] Christians have also invited non-Christians to Lenten suppers to allow them to learn more about Christianity and to build bridges with other faith communities.[2]

See also

References

Notes
  1. Christians do not fast on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day (Sunday), because this day honours the resurrection of Jesus.[5]

Citations
  1. Falardeau, Ernest R. (2000). That All May be One: Catholic Reflections on Christian Unity. Paulist Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8091-3925-5.
  2. "Muslims and Christians share evening meal to break the Christian Lenten fast: Muslim leaders welcome Christian delegation to Pakistan's most important Mosque". Agenzia Fides. 16 March 2004. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  3. Butler, Alban (1774). The Moveable Feasts, Fasts, and Other Annual Observances of the Catholic Church. C. Kiernan. p. 257.
  4. Kellner, Karl Adam Heinrich (1908). Heortology: A History of the Christian Festivals from Their Origin to the Present Day. K. Paul. p. 99.
  5. Kosloski, Philip (25 February 2017). "In Lent, do we fast or feast on Sundays?". Aleteia. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  6. Sherman, Chris (23 March 1995). "Soup, soup, beautiful soup". Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2 April 2022. Among those Christians who practice some sacrifice in the Lenten period before Easter, soup often has a place as a simple but sustaining meal at home and in weeknight church meetings.
  7. "The Lighthouse" (PDF). Christ the Savior Orthodox Church. 2018. p. 3.
  8. Guéranger, Prosper; Fromage, Lucien (1912). The Liturgical Year: Lent. Burns, Oates & Washbourne. p. 8. St. Benedict's rule prescribed a great many fasts, over and above the ecclesiastical fast of Lent; but it made this great distinction between the two: that whilst Lent obliged the monks, as well as the rest of the faithful, to abstain from food till sunset, these monastic fasts allowed the repast to be taken at the hour of None.
  9. "Stations of the Cross & Lenten Supper". Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  10. "Hope Lutheran to host fish fries every Friday during Lent". Winona Post. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  11. "Parishes to host Lenten missions, fish fries, Living Stations". Arkansas Catholic. 25 February 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2021. Stations of the Cross followed by Lenten supper Fridays during Lent at 6 p.m.
  12. John Wesley (1825). The Sunday Service of the Methodists. J. Kershaw. p. 145. Days of Fasting or Abstinence All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas-Day
  13. Gaul, Alma (11 March 2021). "Lenten fish fries return in the Quad-Cities, with changes". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2 April 2022. In Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions, regulations called for abstinence from meat on Fridays as a type of penance.
  14. "Lent: Daniel Fast Gains Popularity". HuffPost. Religion News Service. February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2018. In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in.
  15. Hinton, Carla (20 February 2016). "The Fast and the Faithful: Catholic parish in Oklahoma takes up Lenten discipline based on biblical Daniel's diet". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
  16. "40 Day Journey & Daniel Fast". Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022. Our family and friends are encouraged to take this journey during the season of Lent. This is a time we as Christians mature spiritually the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday. The Daniel Fast begins Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021 and ends on Resurrection Sunday, April 4, 2021. Our common practice is 6 days on and 1 day off.
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