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Canon Quote #1251
Posted August 16, 2007 , By Joshua LeBlanc
Canon 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.
Nota Bene: This is the Canon where we get the dispensation from abstinence in the case where St. Patrick's day falls on a Friday during Lent in those places in which St. Patrick's day is a Solemnity.
Topics: Canon Law |
February 5th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Actually, the issue of Friday abstinence is a bit more complicated.
First of all, the bishops’ conference in the USA can and did (in 1966) mitigate the obligation of abstinence from meat on all Fridays. The requirement of abstinence binds now only in Lent (see c. 1253 and http://www.usccb.org/lent/Penance_and_Abstinence.pdf , nos. 13 & 24). So there is no practical need to worry about solemnities which occur outside Lent.
RE St. Patrick’s Day (which will always fall in Lent or Holy Week: it has the rank of an optional memorial in the USA, not a solemnity, and so no “automatic” relaxation of the obligation of Lenten applies, as it does on the solemnities of St. Joseph and the Annunciation. Only in some dioceses where St. Patrick is the diocesan patron, or the titular of the cathedral — like New York — would Mar. 17 be celebrated with the rank of solemnity, so that when it falls on a Friday of Lent [although not in Holy Week, and it can't fall on Good Friday] the obligation of abstinence would not bind. (In Ireland, where St. Patrick is the national patron, this same exceptional rule applies too.)
For the rest of us, then, if Mar. 17 falls on a Lenten Friday, we can ask for a personal dispensation from the obligation from the bishop (c. 87 acknowledges this power) or the pastor or proper religious superior (c. 1245 grants this power) or a proper delegate of either (c. 89). In many dioceses the bishop delegates the faculty to dispense from penitential days to all priests, even to all clerics.
I hope this clarification is helpful.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Thanks Fr. Paul. I agree with you 100%. This post was made in response to a previous commenter who was saying that specifically about the situation in New York but I see now in retrospect that is looks like I was saying something else when looked at out of context. Thanks again for your insight.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:19 am
No problem. I wish some of these rules could be simpler, but when you’re not in charge all you can do is wish sometimes. There certainly is enough flexibility to permit a good observance of Lent AND a properly festive — though sometimes restrained — celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Overall, of course, we need to encourage more penance, not less, but that’s a neuralgic lament best left for another thread.