Abstinence December 27

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Is December 27, the Day of St John, a day where we should abstain from meat or?(27th falls on Friday, so asking.)
 
Since Dec. 27th is not a solemnity, yes; we still have to abstain from meat or perform some other penance. Only solemnities abrogate the precept to abstain from meat or perform an alternative penance.
 
You would need to follow the rules of your own diocese in this regard, which may not be the same as the rules for someone posting from a different diocese. Strictly speaking in USA, Roman Catholics are not required to abstain from meat on Fridays other than Fridays in Lent and Good Friday, although we’re supposed to substitute some other penance if we choose to eat meat. There are other parts of the world where Friday abstinence is mandatory.
 
I don’t know the answer to this, but it occurs to me that the Octave of Christmas may be considered a solemnity and we don’t abstain from meat on solemnities. Perhaps someone has access to an ordo and could confirm.
 
This is true, but the Friday in the octave of Christmas is not a solemnity, so the penitential nature of the Friday is not completely abrogated. It would be different if a Christmas Day itself fell on the Friday of course.

FYI, Friday in the octave of Easter IS a solemnity and thus the penitential nature of that Friday is completely abrogated.
 
CroatCatholic said:
Is December 27, the Day of St John, a day where we should abstain from meat or?(27th falls on Friday, so asking.)
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For Ruthenian Catholics (USA), the period following the Nativity to Theophany is free from fast and abstinence, except for the vigil on January 5 when it falls on Monday-Friday. Theophany is on January 6th.
 
What if the parish patronal saint is St John. Would the feast then outweigh the Friday penance and abrogate the abstinence?
 
Roman Calendar has the Epiphany of the Lord on January 5 and the Baptism of the Lord on January 12, all of which are in the Christmas period.

In the Byzantine Calendar, the leave taking of the Nativity is on December 31. The Circumcision of the Lord is on January 1 for the Byzantines. For the Theophany, the pre-fest is January 2 and the leave taking of Theophany is January 14.
 
twf said:
FYI, Friday in the octave of Easter IS a solemnity and thus the penitential nature of that Friday is completely abrogated.
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Out of interest, why is there a difference?

My understanding of an octave was that each day would have the same rank.
 
December 25 and January 1 are marked as Solemnity and 26, 27, 28, and 29 are marked as Feast in the USCCB Liturgical Calendar.

The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar (1969) state:
12. The celebration of Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days, with each octave governed by its own rules.

35. Christmas has its own octave, arranged as follows:
a. Sunday within the octave is the feast of the Holy Family;
b. 26 December is the feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr;
c. 27 December is the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist;
d. 28 December is the feast of the Holy Innocents;
e. 29, 30, and 31 December are days within the octave;
f. 1 January, the octave day of Christmas, is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It also recalls the conferral of the holy Name of Jesus.
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Seems that Friday within the octave of Christmas will be penitential in the Roman Calendar, unless it is December 25 or Jan 1.
 
Zach said:
What if the parish patronal saint is St John. Would the feast then outweigh the Friday penance and abrogate the abstinence?
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I believe that the patronal feast day of a parish/diocese/country is considered a solemnity in that parish/diocese/country and therefore the Friday abstinence obligation is lifted. Not 100% sure, however…
 
Cor_ad_Cor said:
I thought so, too, but the calendar rubrics/rankings seem to disagree …

catholicculture.org

Library : General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar​

General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar The Church document governing the Liturgical Calendar. This was published following the approval of the new Roman Calendar by Paul VI in Mysterii Paschalis on February 14, 1969. The authority…

Nonetheless, as a local celebration, I could see the penitential nature of the day being set aside.
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Good catch. I learned something new tonight!
 
In the UK the Friday in the Octave of
Christmas is not a day of abstinence.
 
Have the bishops of England and Wales made a general ruling on that or did they just make an exception for 26th December in 2014? I’m not aware that they have said anything this year about 27th December. So without them making a specific ruling or introducing a general rule then it might be best to err on the cautious side? I live in England.
 
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AngelusDomini said:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2...-on-boxing-day-say-english-and-welsh-bishops/
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From the article:
They said:”An octave is an ongoing celebration of the two highest ranking solemnities of the Liturgical Year, themselves presented at numbers 1&2 of the first section of ‘The Table of Liturgical Days’.
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While it is true that Easter and Christmas rank at numbers 1&2 in the Table of Liturgical Days, I am surprised that the Bishops of England and Wales seem to have failed to have noted that ‘Days within the octave of Christmas’ specifically rank at number 9.
(‘Days within the octave of Easter’ are also ranked at 2)
🤷‍♂️
 
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