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Mike Humphrey, AAC Web Admin. wrote:

Hi, guys —

I was watching the end of Fox and Friends today and Brian (Kilmeade) made the comment:
(My side comments.)

  • Did you know the last day of Lent was yesterday, (Spy) Wednesday (of Holy Week)?, so you can party now?

I thought he was right but wasn't totally sure, so I posed a similar question and received a different answer from Magisterium A.I.

  • Does anyone have any comments?

  • So, when is the last day of Lent?
  1. Spy Wednesday
  2. Holy Thursday
  3. Good Friday
  4. Holy Saturday, or
  5. Easter Sunday

    and
  • If the last day of Lent is Spy Wednesday or Holy Thursday, why do we have to abstain from meat and fast on Good Friday?

Mike
  { When is the last day of Lent and if it's before Good Friday why abstain from meat & fast on Friday? }

Magisterium A.I. (magisterium.com) replied:

Dear Mike,

The last day of Lent is Holy Thursday. (1) The Easter Triduum, which commemorates the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and concludes with Vespers on Easter Sunday. (2, 1)

Even though Good Friday is part of the Easter Triduum, the obligations of fasting and abstinence remain in place. (3) The Church requires abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent, as well as fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. (4) This is because Good Friday is a day of penance observed throughout the entire Church through abstinence and fasting. (3) Fasting on Good Friday is an ancient tradition (5) observed because the Spouse has been taken away. (5, 6)

For these reason, again, the answer to your multiple-choice question is Holy Thursday.

References:

  1. Paschale Solemnitatis — Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts II. V. 27 / Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

  2. Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar     19 / Pope St. Paul VI

  3. Paschale Solemnitatis — Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts V. 60 / Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

  4. Code of Canon Law 1251

  5. Paschale Solemnitatis — Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts V. 39 / Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

  6. Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar 20 / Pope St. Paul VI

Eric replied:

Hi, Mike —

Kilmeade is wrong.

Lent does end at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening, but then the even more sacred liturgical season of the Triduum immediately begins, with all the attendant ascesis, including fasting and abstinence. It is not "time to party".

"Lent is the most common name for what is chronologically the first part of the paschal cycle, a cycle which in its entirety extends from Ash Wednesday to the Sunday of Pentecost. Lent, or the time of preparation for the paschal celebration, runs from “Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive” (GNLYC, 28), ending with the beginning of the Easter Triduum on Holy Thursday evening. The three days of the Easter Triduum include this celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and continue through evening prayer on Easter Sunday."

Fink, Peter E., The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), p. 680

Eric

Paul replied:

Hi, Mike —

Yes, Lent ends on Holy Thursday, but Easter (party) season doesn't begin until Easter, beginning with the Easter vigil.

Fasting and abstinence on Good Friday is obligatory, but it's a good practice to wait until you go to Easter Mass to end one's own personal sacrifices; or at least until Saturday night.

Paul
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