Alright, I just got home from Burger King and and I’m about to eat my Whopper, when my sister walks in and tells me that I can’t eat meat today. I told her it was Thursday not Friday and she said “Its Holy Thursday, you can’t eat meat today.”
Is Holy Thursday an actual thing or is it something made up? And can I eat my Whopper or not?
Maundy Thursday is a real thing that commemorates the Last Supper. I’ve never heard of not eating meat on Holy Thursday, but it may be the case in some churches. Since the Last Supper was a Passover feast, and lamb is a traditional part of the seder, I don’t know why eating meat would be forbidden.
WE had Holy Thursday rammed down our throats all through Catholic School.
Holy Thursdfay was to be treated like a holy day in lent: no meat, etc
Heck, the Pope is in on it.
Presuming you’re Catholic, teemingOne, go ahead and eat your (presumably by now cold) Big Mac. Holy Thursday is not a day of fast or abstinence in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.
Oops, make that Whopper rather than Big Mac.
Holy Thursday <> Good Friday.
Chow down at will if you’re Catholic.
My Catholic wife had Holy Thursday her whole life. She doesn’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent, but had no problem chowing on beef stock and beef burritos last night. (She’ll stink up the house with nasty shrimp today; I’ll go get a Whopper! Good idea!)
There is no fast or abstinence from meat on Holy Thursday, however, if you attend the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, then you should (not have to) observe the Triduum Paschal Fast which includes fasting (as eating minimally) and abstinence from meat from late Holy Thursday evening to the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday after sundown.
And on Holy Saturday, don’t forget to set your vespers back one hour.
Now, among the Orthodox, all animal products are prohibited during the entirety of the fast, as are oil and wine (excepting on Saturday and Sunday, when wine and oil are permitted). Many Orthodox in the USA extend this last prohibition to include any kind of alcohol.
However, on Holy Thursday, we’re supposed to really start fasting–only having one meal if possible and only the bare minimum that we can manage to get by on on Great and Holy Friday.