Haus Jakob

As some of you may have heard, several “bishops” and “Episcopal Conferences” have granted Asian (particularly Chinese) communities dispensation from fasting and abstinence during Lent, should Lent overlap with the Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) season. We hereby clarify that such dispensation is invalid.

Law of Fasting

During Lent, Baptised Catholics between the ages of 21 and 59 inclusive are required, on the pain of mortal sin, to observe the law of fasting on all days, except Sundays, from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday. On days of fasting, only one full meal is allowed, at which meat may be taken (only if that day is not simultaneously a day of abstinence). Two other meatless meals, which together are less than the full meal, are also permitted. Only liquids may be taken between meals.

Law of Abstinence

Baptised Catholics aged seven and above are required, once again on the pain of mortal sin, to observe the law of abstinence. On the days of complete abstinence (Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and Holy Saturday), meat (and soup or gravy made from meat) may not be taken at all. On the days of partial abstinence (Ember Wednesday and Ember Saturday), meat (and soup or gravy made from meat) may be eaten only once.

Please refer to the liturgical calendar to know more.

Reasons why the Dispensation from Fasting and Abstinence is Invalid

There are two main reasons why the dispensation from fasting and abstinence during the Lunar New Year season is invalid.

First, the “bishops” and members of the “Episcopal Conferences” that have granted such dispensation in recent years are adherents of the new and heretical religion of Vatican II. We have discussed elsewhere that the Vatican II Church is not the Holy Catholic Church but the end-time counter-church prophesied in the Holy Scriptures, and that the Roman Catechism teaches clearly that heretics are automatically excluded from the Catholic Church with or without them being tried and formally anathematised. Due to their adherence to the heresies of Vatican II, those “bishops” and members of the “Episcopal Conferences” simply do not have the office to grant dispensation of this type.

Second, the Lunar New Year is fundamentally a pagan holiday rooted in the traditions of East Asian people. St. Paul the Apostle warns us that “Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). The Lunar New Year is a perfect example of such “vain deceit.” It originates from the tradition of Far Eastern men. Its celebration surrounds the five elements of the world in Far Eastern paganism (wǔxíng 五行) in relation to each new “year,” which is not a year of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is already a mortal sin for Catholics to actively celebrate pagan holidays such as the Lunar New Year, according to the First Commandment, that “Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight” (Deuteronomy 5:7). Such celebration exposes Catholics to the danger of demonic attack, “For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils” (Psalm 95:5). It is unwise in any possible sense for the faithful to lay down the perfect, God-given weapons against the devil, the flesh, and the world, which is to say fasting and abstinence, to partake in the celebration of a pagan holiday.