Q. Is there a ruling on beverages on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Can we drink coffee, tea, soft drinks or milk freely on those days of fast?
A. While it lacks the publicity that abstaining from meat enjoys in the wider culture, fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is just as important. It is a way of denying ourselves basic comforts of food so as to enter more fully into the penitential character of these days. It is equally binding in law as abstaining from meat and should be taken very seriously.
Having said that, there is surprisingly little authoritative information as to what exactly fasting means.
The Code of Canon Law mentions fasting along with abstaining from meat as being required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (c. 1251) and what ages are bound by fasting (c. 1252) but never defines what fasting is. Pope St. Paul VI in his encyclical Paenitemini which addressed fasting and abstinence (which is great reading for the beginning of Lent) established that “The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing—as far as quantity and quality are concerned—approved local custom.” This is the only truly authoritative definition of what fasting means.
Based on this, it is clear that the law only limits food, not beverages. Drinking coffee and tea (which interestingly enough are often treated in the category of medicine in old legal discussions) would be permissible, as would soda, milk, juice, and other liquids. Even alcoholic drinks would not violate the fast. Blending solids to create a liquid (such as fruits and other products to create a smoothie) would probably fall into the category of “food,” but that is the author’s opinion, not authoritative Church teaching.
As is so often the case with the law on fasting and abstaining from meat, it really comes down to the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law. Just because we are allowed to consume liquids other than water does not mean we shouldn’t still try to observe some form of penance with regards to what we consume. Forgoing creamer in one’s coffee, or not having a second can of soda, or even choosing to only consume water can be a way of entering more fully into the spirit of these days. These are the only two days the Church asks Catholics to fast, so we should take that seriously, and try to make our fasts as meaningful as we reasonably and healthily can.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
