15/02/2026
LENT IS AROUND THE CORNER โ๏ธ
Lent is a penitential season of forty days, during which the Church prepares the faithful for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], no. 540). By these practices, believers share in Christโs forty days in the desert and are called to continual conversion and interior repentance (cf. CCC, nos. 1438โ1439).
Fasting, required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, consists of one full meal and, if necessary, two smaller meals which together do not equal a full meal (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1251โ1252).
Abstinence, required on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays of Lent, and Good Friday, obliges the faithful to refrain from meat. Foods allowed include eggs, milk, cheese, fish, and other seafood (cf. CCC, no. 2043).
These penitential practices unite the faithful more closely to Christโs Passion and prepare them to celebrate the Paschal Mystery with purified hearts. Those who are ill, pregnant, nursing, or otherwise unable are excused in accord with the Churchโs pastoral discipline.
