Transitus Oblates are to be temperate in eating and drinking, and are to devoutly pray a blessing before meals and say grace after meals. Oblates are to fast at least one meal (no snacks) and abstain from the eating of meat on all Wednesdays (the day Our Lord was betrayed) and Fridays (the day Our Lord was crucified), unless a first class feast (solemnity) should fall on these days outside of Lent.
“And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
According to the holy Gospel, Oblates are free to eat of whatever food is set before them, pleasing or displeasing whether they are fasting or abstaining (unless it is a day of obligation), so as not to offend one’s neighbor or to draw unnecessary attention to oneself. Oblates may offer another worthy act of penance to the Lord in secret, and they can be sure their charity has covered a multitude of sins. “If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.”
Oblates are to honor the “Eucharistic Fast”: eating or drinking nothing but water and medicines for 1 hour before receiving Holy Communion; 3 hours is preferable and from 12Midnight if able. For health or medical reasons, for pregnant and nursing mothers, or for some other legitimate cause, Oblates may substitute their fasting or abstinence with an acceptable form of sacrifice or devotion.
