What Is a Black Fast? And When Should Catholics Practice It?
“Many servants of Mary, on Saturdays and the vigils of Her feast, are accustomed to honor Her by fasting on bread and water. It is well known that Saturday is a day dedicated by the holy Church to the honor of the Virgin, because on this day, says St. Bernard, She remained constant in the faith after the death of Her Son. For this reason, the servants of Mary never fail on this day to offer Her some special homage; and particularly the fast on bread and water, as St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Toledo, and so many others practiced it” (Devotion to Fasting by St. Alphonsus Liguori).
The Misunderstood Black Fast
Most Catholics when they hear the term “black fast” are unsure what it entails. Some view it as a fast on only bread and water. Others believe it to mean, by definition, eating nothing at all. And others are confused by the term entirely. Is it the only valid form of true Catholic fasting? Was it ever obligatory? Who should observe it?
While the history and norms of fasting have changed over time, and while we should restore fasting as a key part of our own spiritual lives, not all fasting needs to be a black fast. But there is a time and a place for a black fast.
What Is a Black Fast?
The Catholic Encyclopedia from 1907 answers as follows:
“This form of fasting, the most rigorous in the history of Church legislation, was marked by austerity regarding the quantity and quality of food permitted on fasting days as well as the time wherein such food might be legitimately taken.”
This is based in practice on the fasting done by the early Church and the Apostles. In practice, there are three criteria that make a fast a “black fast,” as the Encyclopedia identifies:
“In the first place, more than one meal was strictly prohibited. At this meal flesh meat, eggs, butter, cheese, and milk were interdicted (Gregory I, Decretals IV, cap. vi; Trullan Synod, Canon 56). Besides these restrictions, abstinence from wine, especially during Lent, was enjoined (Thomassin, Traité des jeûnes de l’Église, II, vii). Furthermore, during Holy Week the fare consisted of bread, salt, herbs, and water (Laymann, Theologia Moralis, Tr. VIII; De observatione jejuniorum, i). Finally, this meal was not allowed until sunset. St. Ambrose (De Elia et jejunio, sermo vii, in Psalm CXVIII), St. Chrysostom (Homil. iv in Genesim), St. Basil (Oratio i, De jejunio) furnish unequivocal testimony concerning the three characteristics of the black fast.”
Hence, a black fast is one that meets these criteria:
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- Only one meal a day;
- Complete abstinence from all meat and animal products;
- The one meal may only be consumed after sunset.
Consequently, it is not a total abstinence from all food and drink whatsoever that makes a fast a “black fast”. And it also does not mean that one eats only bread. Vegetables are certainly allowed at the meal.
In practice, the black fast is most appropriate for Lent since the Church mandates fasting at this time. While the time of the meal gradually moved up from after sunset to 3 p.m. in the High Middle Ages before advancing to noon in the 15th century, those looking to observe a more austere Lent should strive to practice some Lenten days as days of black fast – especially Fridays and during Holy Week. Other fasts throughout the year – like St. Martin’s Lent, the Assumption Fast, and the Apostles Fast – need not necessarily be times of Black Fast. The extra austere nature of this fast during Lent makes one better understand the gravity of Lent.
Xerophagiae and the Passion Fast
Connected with the black fast is both xerophagiae and the Passion Fast, both of which were practiced by obligation in Lent before the 7th century.
Xerophagiae is a diet of simple, dry, uncooked food, such as raw nuts, bread, fruits, and vegetables. Fish and oil are not part of it, neither are flesh and animal products. It was a precept to fast in this way only during Holy Week by custom and/or decree until the time of Pope Gregory the Great, who mentions nothing of it. It may still have been a custom at that time, but no mention of it is made in the Decretals of Gregory IX.
The Passion Fast is a term which refers to the fast which began for some as early as sunset on Holy Thursday and as late as 8 a.m. on Good Friday. No one was allowed to eat any food during that time until midnight following Holy Saturday. And since most people fasted from midnight for Communion, the fast in reality extended until after Mass on Easter Sunday morning. It was often called a “40 hrs. fast” and represents the original Lenten fast. For those who were too weak to follow this fast, the minimum fast at this time was that of xerophagiae.
Practice More Fasting in Our Lives
We would do well to add more fasting and abstinence to our own lives beyond the minimum imposed by Church Law. As St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote, fasting on Saturdays in Our Lady’s honor would be a worthwhile practice and so would abstinence on Saturdays, which was practiced with the same obligation as Fridays until recent history. But through it all, it need not necessarily be a black fast.
Fasting in honor of Our Lady on Saturdays is a very worthwhile practice anyone devoted to the Message of Fatima should consider incorporating. And we need not refrain from doing so just because we cannot practice it as a black fast. Having one meal in the evening with two snacks (i.e., the frustulum and the collation) while omitting meat (but not animal products) would certainly meet the definition of a Catholic fast.
Penance and Reparation
At Lourdes, Our Lady thrice called for penance. In the Third Part of the Great Secret of Fatima, Sister Lucia beheld an Angel with a flaming sword threateningly pointed at the earth, calling out “Penance! Penance! Penance!” At La Salette, and again at Fatima, Our Lady insisted that men must cease offending God.
God is calling us to offer penance and reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This call is at the heart of the Message of Fatima. Fasting is a very efficacious way of offering such penance and reparation.
Many devotees of Our Lady wonder why the Consecration of Russia has not yet been carried out as Our Lady requested. Surely part of the reason is because, collectively, we have not yet offered sufficient penance. How much penance are you offering? Can you offer more? Surely, our increased efforts will hasten the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.