Why is fish so popular on a Friday?

Question

The last few places i have worked all served fish as lunch on a Friday, is this some kind of UK tradition?

All answers welcomed.

Answer 1

GREAT BRITISH MEAL

AS WELL AS

PIE AND MASH

Answer 2

because that is when your mom is free

Answer 3

As lotsa ppl said its a Catholic thing

Answer 4

I'm sure you have read Canon laws 1249-1253, wherein it is pointed out that all Christians must do penance and the usual day for penance is Friday and the customary penance is to abstain from meat, though this may be qualified by a local bishops conference.

In 1966 the American bishops said that there would no longer be a restriction from meat on Fridays under pain of sin, abstention from meat on Fridays was still to be practiced. If one was in a situation in which one could not abstain, an act of charity or special prayer can substitute for the usual penance, except of course during Lent. Fridays and Ash Wednesday are still required meatless days under pain of sin.  

The only mistake the bishops made in this regard is that they assumed Americans are grown ups.  

Well our response was, “Nyah, Nyah, Nyah! You didn't say I had to!”  

We Americans have the attention span and self discipline of a bunch of sugar-crazed ten years olds!

Where was I? Oh. Yes.  

The Christian must do penance, and the normal penance is to abstain from meat on Fridays.  

Why meat? Why Fridays?  

I have heard that the English favored meatless Fridays to help a flagging fishing trade, or that a medieval pope had a cousin who sold fish or a lot of other loads of hoo-ha. I suspect that the prohibition against meat comes from three things.

All vegetables are kosher and we started out as a branch of Judaism.  

Meat was sacrificed to pagan idols and so we were a bit suspicious about bad vibes from some pagan voodoo ritual - though St. Paul said this is pretty much nonsense, provided we don't give scandal.  

And, there was an ancient belief that meat inflames the passions. (A good steak certainly inflames my passions, but only for a good steak.)

In addition, meat was and still is the food of the wealthy. So abstention from meat touches on voluntary poverty. The real reason, I suspect, is that for most of us, meat is just pretty darn tasty. To give it up is an inconvenience and therein lies the point.  

Jesus said that unless you deny yourself, you cannot be His disciple.  

That means you have to say no to yourself now and then. If you loathe meat and don't eat it anyway give up Gummi bears or oysters Rockefeller or whatever you happen to crave, except of course during Lent when it is meat! If you think this is nonsense then the penance of having to obey bishops should be penance enough.

Why Fridays?  

Easy. Every Friday we remember Good Friday and every Sunday we remember Easter Sunday. Even in Lent you are not expected to fast on Sundays. We celebrate a mini-Holy Week every week of the year.

I hope this helps a little.

Answer 5

During the Lenten season-Catholics aren't allowed to eat any meat-fish is what is allowed, well that or go vegetarian (sp?)for a day

Answer 6

It's a Catholic thing....not a general christian thing.

Answer 7

Originally a religious thing, especially observed by Roman  Catholics, but it is tradition now.  I attended a Church of England School and we always had fish on Friday.  Workplace restaurants always serve it too although most also offer meat as well.

Answer 8

Not all that long ago (when I was growing up) Roman Catholics were forbidden to eat red meat on a Friday.  I think it may have been in remembrance of the "Good Friday" spilling of blood.

There were always long queues outside the wet fish shops on Fridays, and even longer ones on Good Friday (nobody had refrigerators).

School dinners were always fish on a Friday because there was no choice apart from "take it or leave it" so we all had fish to cater for the R.C. pupils.

Not sure when the Pope decided that meat on a Friday was kosher!  Sometime in the last 50 years.

Answer 9

Yes it's a UK tradition, fish and chips on a Friday, like Roast on a Sunday.  Not sure why, but it's been that way for donkey's years.

Answer 10

It's a christian thing.

Answer 11

During lent, catholics dont eat red meat on friday. To accomidate them, many places will serve seafood on friday.

Public schools here in louisiana, serve mainly fishsticks every friday for the entire lent season and many catholic churchs will have a fish fry dinner for like $5 a dinner.