Fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church

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Fish and other designated seafood are traditionally eaten by Catholics on Fridays due to the prohibition on eating meat on that day. Contemporary practice varies by country and area.

The Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence (from meat) at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from something that is good, and not inherently sinful, such as meat. The Catholic Church teaches that all people are obliged by God to perform some penance for their sins, and that these acts of penance are both personal and corporeal. Bodily fasting is meaningless unless it is joined with a spiritual avoidance of sin. Basil of Caesarea gives the following exhortation regarding fasting:

Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood and perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.

Fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church

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