CHAPTER II
: DAYS OF PENANCE
Can.
1249 All Christ's faithful are obliged by divine law, each in his or her own
way, to do penance. However, so that all may be joined together in a certain
common practice of penance, days of penance are prescribed. On these days the
faithful are in a special manner to devote themselves to prayer, to engage in
works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves, by fulfilling their
obligations more faithfully and especially by observing the fast and abstinence
which the following canons prescribe.
Can.
1250 The days and times of penance for the universal Church are each Friday of
the whole year and the season of Lent.
Can.
1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the
Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should
fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday
and Good Friday.
Can.
1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth
year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until
the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to
ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of
fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.
Can.
1253 The Episcopal Conference can determine more particular ways in which
fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it
can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works
of charity and exercises of piety.
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