The Year Without a Lent? Fasting and Abstinence in the Modern Age

Fasting requirements were stricter in the past, but were often accompanied by a robust array of dispensations.

The year was 1890, and a deadly pandemic was sweeping the globe. Hundreds of millions of people were sick and more than a million had died. It was a truly unprecedented situation, causing economic and social turmoil and crushing hardship for many.

For the Catholic Church, Lent was approaching. In light of the impact and suffering caused by the pandemic, …