RLG 101 Interview

Zainab interviews Catherine about the role of food in her Catholic religious tradition. Catherine explains that fish is eaten on Fridays and during Lent, and pancakes and sweets are consumed before Lent begins. She also discusses the significance of bread and wine in Catholicism, as well as the special foods eaten on Christmas Eve and Easter. Catherine emphasizes the importance of gratitude before meals and the communal aspect of sharing food after Mass. She believes that food is meant to be enjoyed and that it plays a significant role in celebrating religious events. Hi, my name is Zainab. I'm a student in RLG 101, and I'll be conducting an interview on food and religions. Would you like to introduce yourself? Hi, I'm Catherine. I'm also a student, and I'm here to answer questions. Okay, so for my first question, what city do you live in? I live in Mississauga for school, but I'm from St. Albert, Alberta. What religious or spiritual tradition do you identify with? I was born into a Catholic household, so I was raised Catholic. Do you consider yourself a religious or spiritual person? Which term do you prefer? I think I fall under the term religious, but I don't think you can separate the two. Is there a reason why you think that? I think you should practice a religion, but I think spirituality has to be involved. It can't be separated, and I think spirituality is also more emotional, and you need something to be guided by and not just go purely based off emotionality. How many years have you belonged to the tradition of Catholicism? I was baptized shortly after birth, so 22 years. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase religion and food? Do you just mean religion broadly speaking, or my religion? Yeah, I'd say your religion. The first thing that comes to mind is the Filet-O-Fish from McDonald's, because this was invented for the Catholics so they could eat McDonald's during Lent and days of abstinence. So on Ash Wednesday, we're supposed to abstain from meat, as well as Fridays during Lent, or throughout the whole year as well. So we typically are known for eating fish on these days, so you'll see a lot of different restaurants have fish Fridays. And then right before Lent starts, we also have a lot of tradition regarding eating up all the sweets and candy in the house. So it's popular on the Tuesday before Lent starts to have pancakes and donuts and cakes and these things. So would you consider that a family tradition? Yeah, my mother has her own take on it. She's Hungarian, so she makes a crepe kind of pancake, and we have that every show Tuesday. Would you say your tradition guides how you eat? Yeah, for sure. On Fridays, it's always planned, our meals, what we're going to eat. And like Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, it's also thought of beforehand, when and what you're going to eat on these days, so you eat less. So by eating less, do you mean that you fast? Do you fast often? So Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the rule is two small meals and one regular-sized meal. Some people interpret that different ways, and you have to be between a certain age. I believe it's 14 and like 90 or something. And then if you're pregnant or breastfeeding or ill with diabetes or something, it doesn't matter. I think those are the general rules. The Pope sets it. So two small meals might be some tea and toast and a bowl of soup, and a small regular-sized meal might be some fish and rice and a small salad. Some people who interpret it more might completely abstain from eating, so they might completely fast, or some people will just have bread and water on these days. Do certain foods have qualities that make them special, sacred, or holy to you? I noticed how you mentioned bread and wine. Would you say that's considered sacred in Catholicism? Yeah, definitely. It was like Christ's last supper before he was crucified, he had bread and wine, and he said, this is my body, and Catholics would take that literally. So at every Mass, we consecrate bread and wine, and we believe that it is Christ's literal body and blood. And we actually have rules of fasting before we consume. So nowadays, it's an hour, you can't eat or drink anything, an hour before consuming. It used to be the full day before, or from morning until you've consumed. So you previously talked about how you have fish on Fridays, but other than that, are there any dietary restrictions? Or like, food that you're not supposed to eat at all? We can eat any food. Throughout the year, on Fridays, you can choose, you either abstain from eating meat, or you do an act of charity, or penance, or these kinds of things. Or like a prayerful act. The purpose of abstaining, or an act of charity, is to become closer to God. So a lot of people do a special prayer with their fasting as well, on Fridays. Are there foods that you prepare or eat for special religious occasions? Could you give us some examples? There's different traditions, for sure. My family has followed Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is traditionally, some people will also abstain. It's not a day of abstinence from meat, but typically people will wait until Christmas before they can have meat. So fish soup is always a staple on Christmas Eve. Easter, of course, is like a bunch of chocolates and these things, because you know it's typical for Lent. We also choose to sacrifice sweets in general, and people choose really specific ones to not consume at all for the whole period of Lent. The most typical one is chocolate, although I know I have friends that will choose coffee, or putting things in their coffee. Just something that's meant to be hard, or a little bit inconveniencing maybe. Could you elaborate a little bit more on the fish soup on Christmas Eve? From what most people consider, we think of turkey. Turkey I think is a celebratory meal. Easter Sunday we'll also have a main meat-heavy dish, whatever that may be. But Christmas Eve, we're still in this period of waiting for Christ to come into the world. If you go to Christmas Eve mass, it'll be the vigil mass. It'll be after 5pm typically, so in the evening. As Catholics having a vigil mass, it starts in the evening for the next day. So it's liturgically Christmas on Christmas Eve evening. 5pm is really early, usually it'll be a 9pm mass, so we'll have fish soup and then go to mass, and then after that it's Christmas. There are traditions that sometimes people will celebrate Christmas right after that mass and open up presents and things. Maybe the next day turkey, maybe it's a bit late having turkey at 1am. The whole idea is that when Christ isn't with us, we're preparing ourselves to see Christ, and we're abstaining from things that are more pleasurable or easily accessed. Before Christmas is also a time of preparing ourselves for Christ to come. So that's why we have fish soup on Christmas Eve. Yeah, usually it's customary to give thanks before a meal, and quite often we'll also give thanks after a meal. With my family, it's very important. No one will eat anything or serve themselves until everyone's seated, and we give thanks. I think it's also a good custom to do on my own, just kind of ground myself before eating, and also just recognize that it's a good thing to have good, nutritious food. Not everyone has that, so it's just an element of gratitude in your day as well. So every Sunday we have, it's mandatory to go to mass, in which case if you're prepared to receive our Lord in the Eucharist and sacred blood, you do that. And you can do it during any mass. You can have mass every day. And this is really specifically just a ceremonial worship in liturgy. I guess outside of that, it's typical for congregations and churches to have coffee and donuts or a breakfast after mass together. I go to a St. George mass on Sundays, and we all get coffee and donuts after. And I think this is a really universal Catholic thing to do. As kids, I remember how annoying it was because the parents would just talk forever, and you'd just be stuck in the church, and there wasn't necessarily other kids to play with all the time. But it's really nice to talk to other people in the community, and I feel like it's just like, I don't know, it's just what Catholics do. It's just one of those things. Okay, speaking of childhood, what religious event comes to mind that you remember having special food? I guess a big one that stands out is Christmas, but also Easter. They're both equally as important, I think. It's not necessarily universal for Catholics, but for European Catholics, there's just really specific foods that go with each holiday. So Christmas will have poppy seed rolls or cakes, and chocolates, I guess more North American, it's about sugar cookies, and candy canes, and these things. A lot of these foods are based off of saints, like candy canes are based off of St. Nicholas, who was a bishop, so this candy cane looks like... I forget what it's called, I think it's called a crozier. Basically all bishops have a huge cane-looking thing that's the shape of a candy cane. That's where the candy cane comes from. Yeah, so that's Christmas. Easter... Easter is like, hot crock buns is super typical. Lots of Easter bread, so you'll prepare it on Holy Saturday and then eat it on Good Sunday. Sorry, Good Sunday. Easter Sunday. What do you think is the most important thing that I should understand about the role that food plays in your religious life? I think Catholics would say that food is good, food is pleasurable, you should enjoy it, and make really good food, and you should have the best atmosphere to enjoy it when you're enjoying it. So you should be gathered around and having a party with wine and food. Like Christ in the Gospels, he's eating with a group. Actually, he's doing this in a lot of moments. I feel like Catholics would emphasize this. His first miracle was at a wedding, the wedding of Cana, and he multiplied the wine. Another one of his miracles is he's multiplying the loaves and the fish so that 3,000 people can eat at the last supper. But there's another moment where he's dining with his friends and he tells Mary Magdalene to sit down and enjoy and stop fussing about, like, join them at the table. So this comes into, like, Lent and days of abstinence, where it's also good to, like, make sacrifices and withhold ourselves from, like, such pleasures. And, you know, enjoy them when, like, Christ is with us on, like, Christmas Day or when he's risen on Easter Sunday, Easter Monday. And this is, like, good for your soul and your, like, maybe your personal virtue, like just being able to stop yourself from doing something or eating something pleasurable. But then, like, when you do, make it, like, a big event and have a good time. So is making sacrifices a significant part of your religion? Yes, I would say so. It's, like, really typical as a Catholic child that if something's even slightly inconvenient for you, you'll just be pushed aside and told, offer it up. And the, like, meaning behind that is, like, offer up your cross, like, suffer silently. And this is, I think, just the most, like, readily available way to make sacrifices is with food. Be it not eating chocolate during Lent or eating less on days of abstinence and days of penance. And then, like, eating vegetarian meals on Fridays, stand fish. Different groups within Catholicism will also have slightly different variations. Just in our school, vegetarians on Wednesdays and Fridays. But we belong to a Roman Catholic group, and we can have fish on Fridays. Okay. Well, going back to Lent, to what extent would you say that the Pope plays an influence in how you partake in Lent? Um, yeah. So, in the past, I've, like, the Pope will give an address or a homily, and this will be broadcasted to the world. I mean, this happens throughout the year, but I think it's the most, like, the most significant on religious days, such as Ash Wednesday and, like, Christmas Day. And he'll just, like, give spiritual guidance for how we should commemorate Lent or start Lent, like he emphasized this year, to make our Lenten sacrifices out of love for God. You know, that we're his children. And to just, like, prepare ourselves as we go through these next 40 days. During, like, special moments, the Pope definitely is in my memory. Like, in 2020, he started Lent during, like, right after the COVID lockdowns. And he brought, like, I remember watching him in this, like, I think also brought a lot of, like, comfort and consolation to myself and many other Catholics going through Lent during this strange time. Because, like, we couldn't go out to Mass and things, so it, you know, was somehow extra fulfilling to be able to see the Pope on, like, a live stream of him. In what ways does partaking in Communion impact your journey of Catholicism? Well, it starts as children. I remember being in the second grade. And it's, like, quite significant to go through your childhood seeing people in your life receive Communion when you can't, because you need to be, like, prepared. You need to ready your soul in these things. A really important factor to receiving Communion is you need to be in what we call a state of grace. So we go and we confess our sins to a priest prior to receiving Communion. And we do this, I think, at least once a year, but I guess maybe someone receiving Communion regularly would go maybe once a month to confess their sins, or every few months, whatever. So it does play a pretty significant role in the life of a Catholic because of this. What's more is I think it brings, like, a contensitive element to the religion. I think, like, when the bread and wine are being consecrated, you know, there's, like, silence in the church. Usually this is a point where you'll get, like, a... Like, you'll hear the person spreading the incense at this point, like, in the silence. You'll hear that to signify that this important moment is happening. And I think, like, you know, you're also now associating the smell of incense with this deeply sacred moment. And then what is more is we'll have, like, what we call Eucharistic Adoration, or signs of Eucharistic Adoration. So the priest will put the host in what's called a monstrance, and it's like a... It's made of metal or gold, and it just, like, displays what we believe is Christ's body in this monstrance. And, you know, we'll just kneel and look at it. And this is, like, really a sacred and personal moment. Like, a very intimate time or form of prayer, I would say. And it's really where, like, the life of Catholics comes from, is receiving the Eucharist and devotion and Eucharistic Adoration. And then just, like, always preparing yourself again before you receive. You know, and if you don't receive, which is very common, people aren't always in a state to receive. It's just, like, this reminder of where you are, and where you are with God, and where you are with yourself, and what you need to do in your life to prepare yourself to be ready to receive our Lord in the Eucharist again. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so considering that you abstain from meat on Fridays, what do meals on Fridays normally look like for you? Yeah, it's, like, depends who's preparing the food. You know, at home, I feel like we have a really typical Friday meal. Like, a really typical meal of abstinence. And it's, like, I mean, it kind of, like, looks sad and bland, but, like, it's meant to... Like, it's not meant to be, like, the best meal, but, like, I really like it. I associate it with, like, lent and my family. My mother always makes, like, or at least in my family, broadly speaking, will make, like, a spinach sauce. Like, it's just boiled spinach with some milk and some maybe salt and pepper, and it's just, like, blended. And then, like, some really basically cooked fish and then some rice. So this is, like, what I think of when I think about, like, a Friday meal on campus. You know, I just get whatever. Sometimes they have fish, but whatever, just, like, doesn't have meat. Are there ways in which your thoughts or actions involving food differ from others in your religious community? I don't think I'm good at, like... Like, personally, I don't think I'm good at preparing food. And I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. I don't think I'm good at cooking. And... I think there's a lot of people that I know in my religious community who take, like, a lot of pride in, like, the role of preparing food. Like... Typically, this is, like, a very specific gender role within families in my community. Like, even... There's one custom, I think it's St. Cecilia's Feast Day in December, where the daughters will make, like, a beautiful breakfast for the family. I don't really know where this comes from, but it's something everyone, or a lot of people do, and, like, take great pride in. Um... Um... And then, like, the whole making donuts thing. Typically, this comes from, like, Polish groups. So if you want fantastic donuts on Shrove Tuesday, go to, like, a Polish Catholic parish or a Polish bakery. They'll be, like, loaded. Um... Maybe once I'm, like, in a different role. Like, once I get married or whatever, um, it'll be, like, a bigger role for me. My family also... Doesn't necessarily follow the gender, um... The gender roles. The men in my family really love to cook, um, and they take pride in, like, preparing some of these special meals, like, on Christmas and Easter. Um... Yeah. Okay, well, I think this has been very informative. Is there anything else you'd like to add? No, I think we've talked about a lot. Alright, thank you so much, Catherine.