Lenten Regulations

“A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.”
Psalm 51:12

These words from the Miserere, used during the Ash Wednesday liturgy, call to mind the challenge and the promise of the Lenten season. Conscious of our need for purification, Christians everywhere are challenged to enter deeply into the spirit of the holy season of Lent.

Mindful of our past sins and of our present weaknesses, we turn to the God of mercy who is eager to purify us and to renew our inner spirit. Confident in the abundance of his mercy, let us direct our attention to the discipline and prayerfulness of this time of year which will purify not only ourselves individually but also the heart of the Church.

In order to help us cooperate more fully with God’s action of creating a renewed and purified heart, the Church has established the following as minimal requirements for us:

ABSTINENCE – All the faithful who have reached 14 years of age are required to abstain totally from meat on ASH WEDNESDAY and the FRIDAYS of Lent.

FASTING – All the faithful between the ages of 18 and 59 inclusive are bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This practice involves limiting oneself to a single full meal and avoiding food between meals. Light sustenance may also be taken on two other occasions during the day.

EASTER DUTY – After they have been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, all the faithful are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time of the year. By special indult, in the United States, the time period for fulfilling this precept has been extended to include the period beginning the First Sunday of Lent (February 25) to Trinity Sunday (June 3).

THE FOLLOWING SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED:

The obligation to observe, as a whole or substantially the penitential days specified by the Church, is a serious one. Days of penance are not merely individual exercises - they are observed by the whole Church, as the Body of Christ.

The faithful are encouraged to celebrate the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance frequently during the Lenten season. Reading the Scriptures, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, generosity toward the poor and the needy are additional means of becoming more involved in the Lenten season.

Bishop DiMarzio has urged our participation in Operation Rice Bowl, sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, as a concrete way to take part in the prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which are such important elements of the Lenten spiritual journey.

Pastors and parents are responsible to see that young persons who are not bound to the above requirements, are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

All other Fridays of the year remain as days of penance in prayerful remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The Bishops of the United States have recommended abstinence from meat as a penance for all Fridays of the year, although each individual may substitute for that tradition some other practice of voluntary self-denial or personal penance. This may involve acts of mortification, prayer or charity.

In prayerful pilgrimage with the catechumens and candidates for full initiation, let us accompany our Lord on his way to the cross and to the empty tomb. May we use this time of Lent to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Msgr. Andrew J. Vaccari
Chancellor