Ash Wednesday Is Right Around the Corner

Ash Wednesday, a day of abstinence and fasting, is coming up February 26. We will have three Masses this year: one at 6:30 AM, one at 9:10 AM with the school, and one at 6:00 PM.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. Every person 14 years or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent. Every person between the ages of 18 and 59 must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onward.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast," to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops