Ash Wednesday

 

Of all our seasons, I think Lent is probably the most misunderstood. What are you giving up? is the common question. Outsiders may wonder what is the point. Many insiders do as well. As always with the Church, the rules here are, well, complicated, but are also illuminating, if you care to dig into them.

 

Among my possessions I have an old prayer book given to my father long ago on the occasion of his first communion. This little book has on its first pages the six commandments of the church, one of which is germane to my topic: observe all the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. And then, as is typical of the Church, after declaring this iron clad law, it then proceeds to list all the exceptions. So all are bound to observe fasting and abstinence, (abstinence often meaning 'no meat') unless they are too young. Or too old. Or infirm. Or pregnant. Or traveling. (Keep in mind, travel was quite different back at this time. More on that later.) Or a member of the labouring class. Since the majority of people at the time of the book's publishing were of the labouring class, these exceptions meant that the rule only bound a minority of people. 

 

And then there are the foods that are not considered meat even though they are the flesh of animals, with fish being the most famous. However, the definition of what was a 'fish' (and therefore permissible to eat on days of abstinence) grew to some odd inclusions, and so alligator was also declared a fish, as was, oddly, capybara (well known today as the world's largest mouse). Why these strange exemptions and inclusions?

 

The answer has less to do with the animals themselves, and more with who was eating them. Fish was a staple of the poor for many centuries. Similarly, alligator and capybara were a common food amongst some impoverished indigenous groups. Ordering the poor or the indigenous to not eat these was tantamount to ordering them to starve. 

 

And with this you begin to get to the crux of the matter. The purpose of the fasting and abstinence was not to place undue burdens upon those who were already heavily, heavily burdened. Hence the exception for the labouring classes. Labourers at the time the book were written were men and women who did back breaking work for long hours and little pay.  Meat was already a rarity for many of them. The exception was telling them to eat whatever they could find, and not to worry.

 

Similarly the exemption of travelers. Why would travelers be exempt? As I said travel does not mean now what it did then. I think the word 'travel' may come from the French word 'travailler'- which means 'to work', and there you find the old meaning of the word. Those who traveled were the 'travailleurs', workers, moving from place to place, looking for occupation. The exemption was not meant for first class passengers embarking on the Grand Tour, but for those who were forced to leave family and home to find some work for some pay to keep body and soul together. The exemption is saying to those in such circumstances, eat whatever food you can find, and worry not. 

 

On the whole, I believe the law is telling us something important.  Fasting and abstinence are important in and of themselves, it is true, but they were also tied to charity back in the day. Those who are well off and comfortable are being asked to think less of themselves, which most of us understand well enough, but they are also being asked to think more of others.  Lent also tells us: 'Your next meal is assured. Theirs is not. Lay down your fork, and pass your plate to them.'