Fish on Good Friday. How did the custom of eating fish on Good Friday come about? What other thing are we supposed to do on Good Friday?
Have you even wondered why Christians are asked to eat fish on Good Friday and abstain from eating meat? We’ve added a few other points that we came across with things that you can and can’t do on Good Friday.
There are a lot of thought gone into this over the years by believers and non believers alike. So, here is a list that we put together of information that we found right across the internet.
- During lent people were asked to abstain from eating red meat and just to eat vegetables and grains so many people thought that it was OK to eat fish and this actually caught on.
- St Peter, who was the first apostle, was a fisher man and so were many of the apostles. It is thought that eating fish on Good Friday was to celebrate them. In fact St Peter is the patron saint of fishermen.
- Did you know that the John Dory is called the St Peter fish?
- The bible says that Jesus fed a mass of people, said to be 5,000, with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Again it is said that eating fish is a celebration of this miracle.
- Meat was often expensive and in order to give people an excuse not to have to afford meat it was advised to eat fish on Fridays including Good Friday.
- Another thought that because Jesus was, as are all humans, warm blooded that it was wrong to eat meat and seeing that fish are cold blooded they would be perfect for Good Friday.
- Did you know that men didn’t shave on Good Friday because of the fear of cutting themselves on the day of the crucifixion?
- Washing your hair on Good Friday is thought to ward off headaches.
- In some country’s people refrain from doing laundry as they could become stained by the blood of Christ and the people then wearing those clothes could bring misfortune on themselves.
- For many years the pubs in Ireland were closed on Good Friday (sadly they’re closed for the past two years because of COVID)
- Seemingly you are not allowed to work on Good Friday but if you are a farmer then it is the day that you should plant your potato crop.
- You are not supposed to handle nails or any tools made from iron
- Children should not be allowed to climb trees
- You are not allowed to eat anything with vinegar or nettles. (Hmm, no vinegar on your fish and chips? I don’t think so).
So there you go. Whatever your religious point of view have a great Easter. Now if you are looking for a few fish recipes then check out Bord Bia.
