Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The observance of the season is marked by the following:
• Abstinence — Catholics over 14 years of age are bound to the obligation of abstinence. Abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent. On days of abstinence, meat may not be used at all. In the Diocese of Syracuse, a dispensation from abstinence is being giving for the Memorial of St. Patrick on Friday, March 17th .
• Fast — Catholics over 18 and up to the beginning of their 60th year are bound to the obligation of fasting. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the days of fasting. On these days, only one full meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed.
• Regarding other weekdays of Lent, participation in daily Mass and the voluntary observance of fasting is recommended.
• Commendable, particularly during Lent, is generosity to local, national and world charitable programs of sharing our abundance, the traditional Lenten Devotions (Stations of the Cross, etc.) and all the self-denial summed up in the Christian concept of “mortification” (putting sin to death).
