Friday Penance: Follow-up to "Meatless Fridays? What is the real rule?"

  • Thread starter Thread starter ktm
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

ktm

Guest
This question is primarily directed to Mr. Blackburn, but anyone who can give me an unqualified answer is welcome to respond. For instance, Jimmy Akin or any of the absolutely awesome apologists at Catholic Answers. (Fr. Serpa?)

This is a follow-up question to the thread Meatless Fridays? What is the real rule?.

The meaning of “substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast” is not clear to me. If I go to Friday Mass in the morning, would this be a good substitute form of penance to satisfy the requirement to perform penance on Friday? Abstaining from meat would be more of a nuisance for me than anything else, and not much of a penance. I think I would get a lot more out of going to mass than abstaining from eating a hot dog. How about this alternate form of penance: I usually say the Rosary daily. If I say it on Friday as I normally do, is this a sufficient substitute, or do I need to do more?

Please advise!
 
40.png
ktm:
The meaning of “substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast” is not clear to me. If I go to Friday Mass in the morning, would this be a good substitute form of penance to satisfy the requirement to perform penance on Friday? Abstaining from meat would be more of a nuisance for me than anything else, and not much of a penance. I think I would get a lot more out of going to mass than abstaining from eating a hot dog. How about this alternate form of penance: I usually say the Rosary daily. If I say it on Friday as I normally do, is this a sufficient substitute, or do I need to do more?

Please advise!
Click to expand...
Generally, the value of penance is left up to your own conscience. If you feel that attending Friday Mass would be sufficient, go for it. Hopefully it comes at a cost to something else; maybe you lose a bit of sleep, a little free time, etc.

However, on the issue of the Rosary, I’d advise you that it’s probably not a suitable Friday penance because you are not doing anything outside of what you do all the other days of the week. I attend Daily Mass, for example, and it would not be sufficient for me to use your suggested penance. Perhaps, however, you could set aside another 10-15 minutes and say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on Fridays after you finish your daily Rosary. Whatever you choose - so long as you decide to offer it up to the Lord and it isn’t too excessive - will be sufficient.

A good rule of thumb is, “How big a deal is it for me to give up meat?” If it’s a big deal, do something a little bigger for the Lord. Only your conscience will be of assistance here, I think.
 
I’m really surprised this is not a more popular thread. I was under the impression most Catholics, including faithful Catholics, didn’t realize that Friday is still a day of penance. I sure didn’t know this until I saw the post on the Ask an Apologist forum. Wouldn’t it be a mortal sin not to peform some kind of penance on Friday if one knows it is required?
 
I too would like to hear a definite answer to this question.

It was my understanding that, although the specific requirement for meatless Fridays was dropped, the obligation for Friday penance remained.

So the question is: If people are no longer abstaining from meat on Fridays, what are they doing instead?

And if they fail to do a self-selected penance, is it a sin which must be confessed?

JimG
 
The Code of Canon Law puts it this way:

"Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed, abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year of age. The law of fasting, however, binds all those who have attained their majority until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors of souls and parents are to take care that minors not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are also educated in a genuine sense of penance.

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast."

Hope that helps.
 
40.png
Servulus:
The Code of Canon Law puts it this way:

snip

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
I’ve read this too, and frankly it doesn’t help much. I find it rather vague to be honest. Perhaps that is deliberately so.

What I would like to know is if the failure to do penance carries the same penalty as deliberately eating meat on a Lenten Friday, namely, that you commit a mortal sin. My gut tells me it is as grave a sin, but then again I tend to be scrupulous about certain practices so I don’t trust my conscience in this matter.
 
I usually don’t remember that Friday has come and gone, until Saturday arrives. Therefore anything I did (or didn’t do) on Friday wouldn’t meet the “knowledge and consent” criteria for a sin.

I’ve ever heard anyone preach or teach on this. I accept that it’s in Canon Law, but “ktm” is right, most Catholics don’t know anything about it. So before I worried whether it was a sin of any variety, I would get clarification from my pastor about it. If he’s not teaching it, find out why.
 
Melman:
I usually don’t remember that Friday has come and gone, until Saturday arrives. Therefore anything I did (or didn’t do) on Friday wouldn’t meet the “knowledge and consent” criteria for a sin.
Click to expand...
I had this experience just this past Friday, when I learned of this requirement. You know a little about my character from my other posts, and it probably took me a bit longer to come to the same conclusion you mention in the quote above (i.e., if you forget, there’s no sin). I just have to learn to trust more my God-given ability to discern right from wrong!
 
40.png
ktm:
if you forget, there’s no sin
Click to expand...
But the issue remains - now that you know about this, if you intentionally don’t do it then exactly what sort of sin would it be? And what satisfies the “alternate penance” requirement that the US bishops have allowed? I am not looking for an easy way out, but I think the fact that the Church is not actively teaching this from the pulpit right now reduces our culpability.
 
Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
Click to expand...
Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast."
Click to expand...
What Canon 1250 makes clear, Canon 1254 fudges. I haven’t heard any definite preaching on this for the past 30 years. I pretty much decided to just forgo meat on Fridays, but since the obligation in the U.S. is so fuzzy, I tend to forget, then realize I haven’t done an alternate penance either.

Some one posted elsewhere on these forums that he confessed not keeping the Friday penance, and was advised by the priest not to be so scrupulous!

JimG
 
if you forget, there’s no sin
Click to expand...
I believe it just diminishes the guilt of the sin. Invincible ignorance dimishes all the guilt, while vincible ignorance may dimish some but not all guilt. Affected ignorance actually may increase your culpability. Yet, in all cases, it is still objective sin if one fails to do what is binding (obligatory) by canon law, unless you had dispensation from the binding precept.

I would think the sin would be the same as missing Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation.

Here’s the thing … In the U.S., abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year is “recommended” as distinct from “obligatory.”
 
Here’s what my commentary on canon law states:
*

… Pope Paul VI’s 1966 apostolic constitution, *Poenitemini, *provides the historical, doctrinal, and disciplinary background for the following canons on penitential days and times [canons 1249-1253].

… [Canon 1249] mentions several ways that days of penance are observed. The first three (prayer, works of piety and charity, and self-denial by fulfilling one’s obligations more faithfully) are left to the individual faithful to observe in their own way or to the regulations of the conference of bishops. The final ways (fast and abstinence) are specific penitential acts binding the faithful in accord with canons 1251 and 1252. The adverb “especially” (praesertim) recalls the words of Paul VI that “fast and abstinence have a privileged place” among the forms of penance. …

… The conference of bishops may substitute for abstinence from meat abstinence from some other food. This adaptation is more meaningful in countries where the people rarely eat meat.

… Fasting and abstinence must be observed everywhere on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but for other Fridays and the season of Lent the conferences of bishops have broad competence to establish both obligatory and recommended penitential practices. In the United States, fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended; on all Fridays of the year the NCCB recommends abstinence from meat, prayer, penance (especially by eating less food), and almsgiving for the sake of world peace. Abstinence from meat is obligatory on all the Fridays of Lent"

From *New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, *John P. Beal, James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green, ed., Study Edition, (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), p. 1446-1448
*
Abstinence from meat is “recommended” for all Fridays of the year, yet “obligatory” on Fridays of Lent. Were you aware that fasting on ALL WEEKDAYS of Lent is “strongly recommended?”

If you are thoroughly confused, do what is recommended and obligatory and if you forget, once you realize you have forgotten, ask God for forgiveness with the intention of speaking to your confessor about it at your next confession.
 
40.png
itsjustdave1988:
In the United States, fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended
Click to expand...
Well, they sure have kept this a closely guarded secret too!
I would think the sin would be the same as missing Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation.
Click to expand...
I just can’t imagine that this would be so. Maybe everyone could ask their priest about this, and report their findings back here.
If you are thoroughly confused, do what is recommended and obligatory
Click to expand...
But is it really our responsibility to dig through canon laws and NCCB documents to find recommendations that have never been propagated? I’m sure some would say “yes” but I’m not so sure.
 
I don’t think we ought to dig. We ought to be properly taught. However, my first clue was what my Daily Roman Missal said:
Abstinence from meat (or from some other food) or another penitential practice, as determined by the conference of bishops, is to be observed on all Fridays of the year unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.
Click to expand...
 
40.png
itsjustdave1988:
I don’t think we ought to dig. We ought to be properly taught.
Click to expand...
This pretty much says it all. Catechesis is sadly lacking in the U.S.

Personally, I’m just going to start doing some penetential act on Fridays, and not get all upset if I forget. Otherwise, we reduce our faith to a bunch of rules and regulations and lose sight of God!

Thanks to all for your very helpful responses.
 
BTW, while Mr Akin correctly quotes the Canons, the URL he provides for the Code of Canon Law points to a document in error at the Vatican :eek: . In that document, Canons 1251 and 1252 are run together, losing the latter part of 1251 and the beginning of 1252. I am trying to contact someone at the Vatican website to correct it.

In the meantime, the document bearing the same Canons at the Intratext website seems correct.
 
From Jimmy Akins blog:

As a result, there is no obligation in the United States to practice penance on Friday, but Friday remains a day of penance which the bishops have urged all to do penance and, in particular, recommended the continued practice of abstience.[from meat] (emphasis mine)

OK, this is the clearest that I have ever seen the matter stated. No doubt the fact that the bishops removed the obligation while simultaneously urging that the practice be continued was bound to lead to misunderstanding and confusion! It took Mr. Akin multiple paragraphs and much exegesis to parse the bishops’ meaning. One could only hope for clearer statements wherein they would just say what they mean! Nevertheless, I’m thankful for this clarification.

JimG
 
As Jimmy akins notes the Canon Law says

*Can. 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops 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. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance*, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

He then concludes that

As a result, there is no obligation in the United States to practice penance on Friday, but Friday remains a day of penance which the bishops have urged all to do penance and, in particular, recommended the continued practice of abstinence. [from meat]

I don’t see how he gets from the canon law which authorizes the Bishops to substitute other forms of penance to the conclusion that they thus had the power to abolish the mandatory penance. He seems to show that they did it, but he shows no authorization for that action.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top