Lent begins next week on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17. The following are the Lenten regulations on fast and abstinence for Catholics in the Albany Diocese:
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 years of age and older. Fast binds all Catholics who are 18 years of age 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 are 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.