[Sca-cooks] Sundays in Lent

[Laura C. Minnick]

I just wanted to weigh in here (yes, I'm awake- have the obligatory 
summer cold and I can't seem to breathe freely long enough to get 
tosleep) about Sundays in Lent...

As I've noted several times over the past couple of years, Lent was not 
a fixed thing- it varied a great deal, mostly depending on where you 
were, when you were, who your local bishop was and how hard-assed he 
was, if you were a cleric, etc etc etc. *In general* things progressed 
from very strict to somewhat more lax, until late in the middle ages you 
could basically buy your way out of a great deal of Lenten observances.

The degree of Sunday observance varied a great deal, it would appear. 
Things were quite strict in the early church and early middle ages. Lent 
might be much longer than the familiar 40 days, and the foodstuffs 
allowed were very narrow, any day of the week. In fact, there were even 
a 'dry fast', which had not only rather spartan food offerings, but also 
was to include *no water*, and restriction on watery foods. (Appears to 
have been a short-lived practice, thank God.) The general rule set in 
the 5th c was basic- no meat, no eggs, no dairy. There is some 
contention as to the nature of a relaxation of the rules for Sunday 
(sometimes including Saturdays and Saints' days). The meals could be 
fancier, more elaborate, and also with bigger portions. (Lenten portions 
would put an anorexic to shame.) In the 14th and 15th centuries there 
seems to have been eggs and dairy allowed on Sunday; meat is still iffy. 
*However*, I've been studying the observances of Lent for several years 
now, as some of you know, and I as of yet have not been able to find any 
specific statutory relaxation or decretal/ordinance of the rules for 
Sundays. Nothing. So I can't say for sure when- or indeed even *if* this 
happened. This is the source of no small frustration, because as an 8th 
c person, things are pretty strict.

During Lent I observe the full fast, though I allow myself three meals 
on Sunday as opposed to the two that was common practice, and I keep to 
it also on Saints' days. This is a royal pain in the neck, and a great 
challenge. It is also an interesting experience in that I get a taste- 
even just six weeks- of religious observance and life in my time period. 
This last spring though I had to drop out two weeks early, as I was ill. 
The infirm, very young, or very old were allowed exceptions, and I took 
it. I might be a crazy medievalist, but I'm not stupid.

Liutgard

-- 
"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our 
abilities." -Albus Dumbledore ~~~Follow my Queenly perambulations at: 
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