Lenten Fish Fries Bring Parish Families Together
By: Ron Kuzlik
This History of Lenten Fish Fries
Friday evening fish fries during Lent have become a staple for many Catholic parishes.
It all started prior to Vatican II when Canadian bishops had a variety of restrictions concerning fasting (eating one full meal and two smaller meals that don’t equal another full meal) and abstinence (refraining from eating meat on all Fridays and other designated days).
There were a large number of immigrants from Poland, Germany, and other Central European countries who migrated to Canada and the Midwest of the United States in the 19th Century. Because of the proximity to the Great Lakes and a number of other freshwater lakes, eating fish became an alternative to meatless Fridays.
With that, the Lenten Fish Fry was born.
Over time, these folks began to disperse and settle in other parts of the USA and Canada. And with them, they brought along the tradition of Lenten Fish Fries. Some of these restrictions were loosened after Vatican II in 1965. However, fasting and abstinence were still mandated for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent.
Most Lenten Fish Fries are sponsored by local Knights of Columbus councils and held at local church parish halls, either alone or with other service organizations. Depending on the venue, there might be several dozen people to as many as 300 or more attendees. The fish fries serve to bring the parish family together and build community. Furthermore, the monies raised at the Knights of Columbus Fish Fries benefit programs that benefit the poor, the elderly, and the challenged, as well as other service projects through local parishes.
Lenten Fish Fries in Manitoba
The Annual Lenten Fish Fry at Mary, Mother of the Church (MMOC) Parish in Winnipeg (Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface) is sponsored by Our Lady of the Prairie Knights of Columbus Council 5264. Brother Knight Ed Stemkoski explained, “Vic Bossuyt and his wife Viviane started this annual event 18 years ago, and they still lead it today. “MMOC parishioners look forward to it every year,” he adds.
On the menu are pan-fried Pickerel fresh from Lake Winnipeg, baked potatoes, French fries, homemade coleslaw, buns and a variety of homemade desserts and beverages. The success of the fish annual fries is dependent upon a team of about 30 volunteers to purchase the food, set up the hall, cook and serve guests and do the after-event cleanup.
The Fish Fry Effect
On a side note, Catholics are responsible, at least in part, for McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich – a very unusually popular menu item at a burger joint. When franchise owner Lou Groen opened the first McDonald’s in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area in 1959, most of the people there were Catholics. Although his new restaurant was an immediate success, he noticed that on Fridays, his sales decreased by about 75%
Why? Because of the Catholic Church’s restriction about eating meat on Fridays.
Groen introduced the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1962. Fast forward to the present day, over 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches are sold each year, and nearly a quarter of all McDonald’s sales of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches are during Lent – as a result of the Catholic practice of abstinence from meat on Fridays.
For more information on the Manitoba State Council Knights of Columbus, go to: https://www.mbstatekofc.com/