"Looks like meat is back on the menu, boys!"

Lent is a time of fast and abstinence — which goes down a little easier when sprinkled with humour!

There have been a couple of, ah …unusual dispensations to the abstinence rules around the world. Some that still exist are listed below!

Capybara in Venezuela

The first dispensation to catch my eye was a post on 𝕏 from Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) about the Capybara. This delightful — gregarious — South American animal is the largest rodent in the world and a natural swimmer.

nom, nom, nom…!

but, awww….

Massimo noted:

Capybaras are eaten during Lent in Venezuela because they are considered “fish” by the Vatican.

Sometime between the XVI and XVIII centuries, Venezuelan clergymen wrote to the Vatican with a special request. They had discovered an animal that lived in water, had webbed feet, and tasted like fish.

With Lent approaching, they asked the Vatican to grant the animal the status of fish, so they might eat it during the upcoming days of meat-free fasting.

By letter, the Catholic Church agreed, and the capybara—the largest living rodent in the world—became a coveted addition to many Lenten dinner tables.

The dispensation is confirmed in Wikipedia! “…especially in Venezuela, capybara meat is popular during Lent and Holy Week as the Catholic Church previously issued special dispensation to allow it to be eaten while other meats are generally forbidden.”

Gator in New Orleans

In 2010 the Most Rev. Gregory Aymond, Archbishop of New Orleans was asked the ‘Gator question and gave the following response!

This may be based on the facts that the alligator is a cold-blooded animal and like frog & snail, is incontestable lenten fare. ”Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, (cold-blooded animals) and shellfish are permitted,” says the website of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

(The Louisiana Bar Association also suggests that Skunk-Headed Coot also enjoys a Lenten dispensation in Louisiana, but I doubt that the LBA is the proper authority to speak on Catholic affairs!)

Muskrat South of Detroit

The second aquatic rodent…

Catholics living south of Detroit enjoy a longstanding informal dispensation to eat muskrat (the local pronunciation is MUSH-rat) on Fridays of Lent. A 2002 document from the Archdiocese of Detroit confirmed that “there is a long-standing permission—-dating back to our missionary origins in the 1700s—-to permit the consumption of muskrat on days of abstinence, including Fridays of Lent.” Bishop Kenneth Povish of Lansing…said that “anyone who could eat muskrat was doing penance worthy of the greatest saints.” Fair enough!

Beaver in Québec, Canada

Another aquatic rodent!

In the 17th Century, the first bishop of Québec, Francois de Laval, put the question as to whether it was permissible to eat beaver during Lent to the theologians at Paris’s Sorbonne! The ruling of Paris’s theologians was YES (the opinion of the Vatican apparently being unnecessary!) This dispensation is still taken advantage of in parts of Québec.

The very best dispensation was for the Paulaner monks in Germany:

Beer in Bavaria!!

This dispensation was spotted by the Editor of Catholic Arena… Say no more!

“…one beer in recorded history received an actual blessing from the pope. As legend has it, in the 17th century, Paulaner monks in Bavaria, Germany decided to brew some liquid courage to survive their 40-day Lenten fast, during which food was verboten but liquids were A-O.K.”

Feeling guilty, the monks had shipped their tasty beer to Rome for Papal approval. As luck would have it, the beer spoiled on the way so the Pope felt that drinking it would be adequate penance for the monks!

I believe the Paulaner monks were later expelled from Germany (possibly post-Napoleonic wars.) They were part of the Order of Minims which still exists, mostly in Italy. I do not know if any of their monks still follow this rather special Lenten diet! (If anyone knows please message me on 𝕏.)

The Salvator beer is now brewed in the Paulaner Brewery.

Kevin Hay

You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter / Twi𝕏)

@kevinhay77