3. What does the law of fasting prescribe?
It prescribes that only one full meal a day may be taken. But it does not forbid a small quantity of food in the morning and evening, the quality and quantity to be regulated according to the approved custom of one's locality.
4. Is it permitted to eat both flesh and fish at the same meal on days of fasting which are not also days of abstinence?
Yes; we may eat flesh and fish at the same meal. Also, we may take the full meal in the evening and a collation in the middle of the day.
5. What days does the law of abstinence, as apart from the law of fasting, oblige us to observe?
The law of abstinence, apart from the law of fasting, obliges us to abstain on all the Fridays of the year.
6. On what days are both the laws of abstinence and of fasting to be observed?
The laws both of abstinence and of fasting are to be observed on 1. Ash Wednesday, The Fridays and Saturdays of Lent; 2. The Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays of the Ember days, 3. The Vigils of Pentecost, of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Feast of All Saints and of Christmas Day.
The Forty Days of Lent are ordained in imitation of the forty days' fast of Jesus Christ, in remembrance of His bitter Passion and Death, and that we may worthily prepare ourselves for the celebration of Easter. The Ember Days are ordained that the faithful may thank God for the blessings they have received in each quarter of the year; that in each season they may be reminded to do penance; and also that they may obtain of God worthy priests, these being generally the days of their ordination. By the Vigils the faithful prepare themselves for the worthy celebration of great festivals. The four weeks preceding the feast of Christmas are called the holy season of Advent. It is time of special prayer and devotion.
