[Sca-cooks] another wedding feast for Aethelwulf-

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 11:04 PM 10/7/02 +0200, you wrote:
>
>LCM> Now, as to the wedding feast- gotta point out that monks don't get out
>LCM> much- they are in the monastery, yes? Monks don't go to wedding
feasts. And
>LCM> the secular clergy who were present were certainly not troubled by
fasting
>LCM> on a Monday.
>
>What about mendicant orders, who were not cloistered?
>
>Solwerlad

In general- they conform to the dietary habits of the cloistered monks. I
looked up the Rule for the Dominicans and the Franciscans- the Dominicans
follow the Rule of St. Augustine, which has little specifics about food,
only to be reasonable and beyond approach and to make sure the sick eat
well. The Franciscan Rule says:

"All the friars are to fast from the feast of All Saints until Christmas.
Those who voluntarily fast for forty days after Epiphany have God's
blessing, because this is the period our Lord sanctified by his holy fast
(cf. Mt. 4:2). However, those who do not wish to do so, should not be
forced to it. All the friars are bound to keep the Lenten fast before
Easter, but they are not bound to fast at other times, except on Fridays.
However, in case of manifest necessity, they are not obliged to corporal
fasting."

'Fasting' in this case of course means abstaining from animal products, as
one does in Lent and on Fridays. Only in unusual circumstances does it mean
abstaining from food entirely. And the wedding feast concerned is in June.

At any rate, it is highly unlikely that either the Franciscans or the
Dominicans would be present, much less participating in a marriage feast.
The local bishop, however, was likely to be there- especially since the
feast was in the cathedral courtyard...

'Lainie
-wondering where Father Abelard has gone off to...
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