Catholic Parishes Celebrate Coming of Easter With Weekly Fish Fry Tradition

DU QUOIN, Ill. — Down the spiraling side roads and across tracts of barren cornfields sits the small town of Du Quoin. Located nearly a five-hour drive south from Chicago, the town of approximately 5,700 is known for, well, not too much.

It holds a state fair once a year, but in general, it’s a town you may not have ever heard of before.

But Du Quoin does have something in common with many towns and cities across the United States this time of year — the custom of church fish fries in parish halls.

READ: New Lenten Cookbook Gives Catholics Tasty Choices For ‘Meatless Fridays’

READ: 5 Jesus Movies You Should Watch This Easter

Ash Wednesday ushers in the start of Lent, a six-week period when Christians prepare for Easter through prayer and reflection. For Catholics, the season also involves fasting on certain days and abstaining from meat on Fridays. The tradition, which started in the early church, is something Catholics — and many Christians in general — have adhered to for centuries.

During Lent, many Catholic churches participate in fish fries, a meal involving battered or breaded fried fish. Served every Friday following Ash Wednesday, the meals have become a mainstay for many churches, who use them to raise money and build community during the Christian season of repentance.

In the middle of Du Quoin, cars made their way up a narrow alley behind Haffner Hall to participate in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church fish fry. It may not be known to many outsiders, but it is to many in and around town.

“Now before COVID, we had a sit-down fish fry,” said Patty Reaves, a volunteer and committee member of the fish fry. “Come in — all you can eat.”

The Catholic church used to have people filling the wide space of Haffner Hall, but due to the pandemic, it could only do a drive-thru this year. Last year, it was unable to even have a fish fry — so this is the first time in a year that the church has been able to participate in a beloved tradition.

The fish is bought frozen from Indiana, and men fry it in a small building beside Haffner Hall. They enjoy each others’ company with 16-ounce beers in hand while they fry fish.

Patty Reaves, a volunteer and committee member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, during a recent fish fry in Du Quoin, Illinois. Photo by Alicia Lenea

The women prepare, pack and hand out the food. They have many other roles and are a huge part of the fish fry. It wouldn’t be possible without them.

Anyone can volunteer, but it is mainly the church members that take part. Most of them are married couples. The youngest volunteer is a high school student that helps take orders.

Over the past few weeks, many in the community have asked when the church will be able to host in-person fish fries once again. Maybe next year — if the virus continues to subside.

This year, volunteers served fish, french fries and hush puppies. They used to have a wider variety of choices, including baked potatoes and desserts.

“We are known for homemade desserts,” Reaves said. “People would come in, have their spouse stand in line, and they would go pick their dessert out first.”

The drive-thru fish fries have brought the community together again this Lent, but residents miss getting together.

“For one thing, the food is delicious,” said Mavis Alecci, the owner of Du Quoin Furniture and Mattress Company. “The people are very friendly. Due to COVID, they have had to cut down on a lot of the food they have always served. They cannot do deliveries now. You can’t go in and eat your meal now, but other than that, they bring the community together. The whole community looks forward to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church fish fry.”

It has impacted revenue that the fish fry used to bring to the church’s coffers. The church also has other events to raise money, like a thrift shop. Even though the fish fries used to sell over 600 pounds of fish a week, they are still able to reel in enough to make ends meet and then some.

During one recent Friday, the church sold 142 dinners, Reaves said. “Fifty-five people ordered fish only.”

Reaves said she’s more than happy to volunteer to help the church.

“One thing that I want to stress is that we do this for our church, yes,” she said, “but we also do it for us.”

Alicia Lenea is a student at The King’s College majoring in Journalism, Culture and Society. She is an intern at Religion Unplugged.