Lenten regulations for diocese

Lent begins March 1, Ash Wednesday. Here are the Lenten regulations for the Albany Diocese:

* FAST AND ABSTINENCE

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence.

As a sign of our penance, we preserve for the Diocese of Albany the custom of abstinence from meat on the Fridays of Lent.

Abstinence binds all Catholics who are 14 and older. Fast binds all Catholics who are 18 but not yet 59. Fasting refers to the quantity of food eaten. Traditionally, fasting calls for only one full meal per day.

By retaining these traditions for our Diocese, we do not intend that they be interpreted as laws binding under pain of sin, but as customs from which we will not hold ourselves lightly excused. They are expressions of our desire to be converted in our hearts, to be reconciled with each other and to love our neighbor.

* EASTER DUTY

All of the faithful, after they have received their First Communion, are bound by the obligation of receiving the Eucharist at least once each year. (This precept originally resulted from the widespread neglect of the sacrament in the Middle Ages.) The dioceses of the U.S. have an indult -- permission from the Vatican -- that allows the Easter duty to be satisfied from the First Sunday of Lent (March 5) to Trinity Sunday (June 11).

(2/23/06) [[In-content Ad]]