Lenten Traditions (Catholic Caucus)

Self | 23 Feb 2011 | Natural law

[Natural Law]

One of the blessings of our US Catholic communities is the contributions of each of the many cultures represented in our parishes. As we prepare ourselves for our Lenten Observation it would be fantastic if we share the unique and special Lenten traditions and recipes of our communities and childhoods. Surely we can collectively do better than salmon loaf every Friday.

[Kolokotronis]

"I finally found a place near us that sells salt cod. Salt cod mashed with potatoes and fried. Ummmm....

Unfortunately, it isn’t much of a penetential meal for us since we love it!"

We fast not so much as a penetential practice, but rather as an exercise in self denial as part of the process of "dying to the self". By denying our stomachs, we can focus the "nous", the eye of the soul, less on ourselves and more on God so that eventually, one hopes, our entire being is centered solely on Him.

[Tax-chick]

Under this plan, how could you get enough calories into an active child or a teenage marathon runner, without piling sugar into every dish?

[Salvation]

Intro to Fast and Abstinence 101

[trisham]

I hear you. Unfortunately, my husband has diabetes, and he can’t eat much in the way of carbohydrates, so his diet is already quite limited. Pizza isn’t something that we can have very often, nor is pasta. Potatoes and bread are out as well. Sugar or honey? Verboten.

[wagglebee]

Don't get me wrong, I eat shrimp, crab and lobster all the time, it's just hard to view it as a sacrifice. Same with sushi. Now, canned tuna fish is something that I will not eat under any conditions ever.

[Judith Anne]

Just re-reading that old thread. A great one!

[Natural Law]

"Intro to Fast and Abstinence 101"

What a fantastic link. I've saved it to my favorites. Thank you.

[trisham]

We follow the United States guidelines for fasting and abstinence, even the babies, but our focus, food-wise, will be on the needs of our one son who has a real weight problem. We will exclude foods that he is prone to overeat and purchase those he should eat, even if nobody else likes it. This will, I believe, provide adequate penance for those who need it, along with a positive health outcome.

***************************

I understand completely.

I hate fish sticks, by the way. My mother almost always cooked them until they were black on the bottom and stuck to the cookie sheet. The entire back side would remain with the pan when the top was pulled off.

[wagglebee]

Do fish sticks even have fish in them?

I used to love McDonald's Filet-o-Fish sandwiches when I was a kid, but they are horrible now. McDonald's used to steam the bun and the sandwich was put in a styrofoam container (this helped the cheese really melt right), now the buns are toasted and they are in a paper wrapper. The taste completely changed.

[trisham]

I understand. For me, part of the sacrifice is that I have to plan for every Friday all year, which is a day when our friends, acquaintances and business associates often get together. I can't just show up anywhere and be assured that I will have many choices. At the same time, I don't want to draw any attention to myself.

I love tuna salad, but I eat it most Fridays for lunch. There are times that I will eat nothing rather than gag down another mouthful of it. Sometimes I skip breakfast, too. Is that a sacrifice? Not eating something that makes me nauseous? I don't know. :)

Imho, the interpretation of sacrifice may be bit complicated.

[trisham]

I love Perogis. Or is it Perogies?

[trisham]

I love crab cakes.

[trisham]

You’re welcome! I’m afraid that I can’t think of a non-dairy substitute for the heavy cream, though.

[Kolokotronis]

"Under this plan, how could you get enough calories into an active child or a teenage marathon runner, without piling sugar into every dish?"

I don't know. I know we use virtually no sugar at my house except in coffee and neither of the boys ever drank coffee. We eat good vegetables and legumes and seafood. We did always give the boys milk. Some people do a complete monastic fast. We have never done that but I know plenty of families who do and the children have grown up fine. As for marathon runners, well my favorite young woman on earth is a marathon runner...she also fasts like a monastic for all the fast days, about 180 days each year.

[trisham]

I tried peeling away the breading once, and there was only about a quarter of an inch of fish on each fish stick. It was disgusting.

I had a filet-o-fish sandwich months ago, and it was horrible.

[wagglebee]

I love fresh tuna and would be fine eating it every day, but even the sight of canned tuna makes me feel ill (when I was fifteen my appendix ruptured and a tuna sandwich was the last thing I ate before I got sick, so I guess it's in the back of my mind that canned tuna did it).

[Excellence]

Our local McDs does have Friday fish sandwhich specials.

[trisham]

I think that happens quite often.

[OpusatFR]

I make a Catalan pie with a corn meal and white flour yeast crust and the filling is very simply zuchinni, onions, garlic, tomatoes cooked into a pasty dry filling and then add raisins and chick pea mash and capers.

Sounds awful but it is really good.

And it packs some calories. You can add chili powder to the seasoning for a more tex mex taste, or what I add is cumin, a little cinnamon, and fennel sauted in the oil.

Then there is my Chinese daughter-in-law who cooks without meat or dairy easily.

[conservonator]

God doesn't need your fasting and it's no insult to Him if you fail. Fasting is for us and is among the greatest gifts The Church has given us.

I really have to remember this, thanks Kolo.