According to Christians, Jesus sacrificed his flesh on what is now known as Good Friday. This is why traditionally, people abstain from meaty flesh on Good Friday. Fish is viewed as a different kind of flesh, and so is favoured over meat on Good Friday.
It simply meant abstaining from eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals—since the thinking goes, Jesus was a warm-blooded animal. Fish, though, which are cold blooded were considered okay to eat on fasting days. Hence, Fish on Fridays and “Fish Friday” (among many other religious holidays) was born.
Dried, salted cod was a common fish-on-Friday meal for 16th-century Catholics. Herring as the traditional Friday fish gave way to cod, introduced by the Vikings, the people of what is now southern Scandinavia.
Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday in Lent (including Good Friday). Fish is often used as a substitute for meat-based meals.
The medieval church decreed that the meat of warm-blood animals shouldn't be eaten on Fridays, hence the replacement of fish instead. Other types of Christians believe that eating fish on Good Friday symbolises the day in the Bible that Jesus was killed by the Romans.
According to Christians, Jesus sacrificed his flesh on what is now known as Good Friday. This is why traditionally, people abstain from meaty flesh on Good Friday. Fish is viewed as a different kind of flesh and so is favoured over meat on Good Friday.
The Christian festival begins on Good Friday, when it's tradition to eat fish, as opposed to meat, such as beef, pork or poultry.
One such tradition that is well known among Catholics around the world is the practice of only eating fish on Fridays during the Lenten season.
The Church asked Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent in memory of Good Friday, the day the Bible says Jesus died on the cross, Riviere said. Meat was chosen as a sacrifice because it was a celebratory food.
Abstinence from meat on Fridays is done as a sacrifice by many Christians because they believe that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. In Orthodox Christianity, in addition to fasting from food until sundown, the faithful are enjoined to abstain from sexual relations on Fridays as well.
For Christians, the practice of meat free Fridays dates back at least 1100 years. In the 9th Century, Pope Nicholas I declared that believers should abstain from eating “flesh, blood, or marrow” on Fridays in memory of Christ's death and crucifixion.
In 866 A.D., Pope Nicholas I made Friday abstinence from meat a universal rule of the church. By the 12th century, abstinence and fasting on Friday, for penance as well as in memorial of Christ's Passion, were common practices. Most Catholics were bound by the rules, even children as young as 12.
“All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence” (Canon 1252). The U. S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) extended this law to include all Fridays in Lent. Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays.
It is the custom of Jewish communities to eat fish on Friday night. Fish are seen as animals that are protected from the evil eye, since they live in the water and cannot be seen from outside the water.
Let's start with a quick lesson in theology: According to Christian teaching, Jesus died on a Friday, and his death redeemed a sinful world. People have written of fasting on Friday to commemorate this sacrifice as early as the first century.
Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.
In Abrahamic religions, eating pig flesh is clearly forbidden by Jewish (kashrut), Islamic (haram) and Adventist (kosher animals) dietary laws. Although Christianity is also an Abrahamic religion, most of its adherents do not follow these aspects of Mosaic law and are permitted to consume pork.
It is only in Leviticus 11:7 that eating pork is forbidden to God's people for the very first time—“… and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.” This is where and when pork in all its forms (including ham, bacon, sausage, etc.)
“Each Friday during Lent is actually referred to as Days of Penance,” the 33-year-old said. “If someone unintentionally eats meat by accident without willfully knowing they've done wrong, it's not a sin. I usually suggest they make sure to sacrifice something else in its place to make up for eating meat.”
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, abstinence laws say meat is considered something that comes only from animals that live on land, like chicken, cows, sheep or pigs. Fish are considered a different category of animal.
Prayer to Mary is a way of being drawn towards Jesus. Just as a Protestant might go to a pastor to say, “pray for me” with the assumption that your pastor will point you to Jesus—so also a Catholic will pray to Mary with the confidence that she will direct us to the Lord Jesus. It is an act of intercession.
Jews throughout the generations have been meticulous to eat fish on Shabbat. In fact, halachah discusses the not uncommon scenario where non-Jewish fishermen would specifically raise the price of fish before Shabbat due to the demand. There are many reasons given for the custom to eat fish on Shabbat.
As Jesus sacrificed his own flesh on Good Friday, traditionally Catholics abstain from eating meaty flesh on this day. Instead, fish is considered a more favourable type of animal product to eat.
Christians and Catholics do not eat meat and instead have fish in their meals. It is because fish comes from the sea hence, is believed to be a different kind of flesh.