Fr. Chad Ripperger explores the history of Catholic fasting and the apparent, slow retreat from the asceticism that typified the spiritual lives of Christians centuries ago. He argues, citing St. Thomas, that the natural law already requires fasting and abstinence as virtues, even if church discipline is relaxed.
Ripperger’s overall view is that each relaxation — Benedict XIV’s 1741 meat permissions, Leo XIII’s eight-ounce collation, the 1917 Code, Pius XII’s 1941 dispensations, and the post-Vatican II reduction to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday abstinence — contributed to a “retraction of grace.”
He finishes by setting out how those who struggle with fasting might take the initial steps toward eventually fasting like our forefathers in the faith.
