Penance/abstinence on all Fridays?

[frenchbeatle]

I’ve been reading a few threads here talking about how all Fridays Catholics are supposed to fast from meat and/or do some kind of penance or act of love in remembrance of Christ’s death. I was under the impression that Lent was the only time we were to fast from meat on Fridays, or that Vatican II changed the rule so that now, we can have meat any other Friday of the year.

I never knew about this idea until coming here, and granted, I’m a relatively new Catholic (8 years), but my mother was in the Church pre-Vatican II, and she never told me about this.

Can someone post some references, like from the CCC or something, showing that rule still exists? Thanks.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

This article from This Rock may be of interest.

 

[damooster]

This article from This Rock may be of interest.

Thank you for posting this. I have been abstaining from meat on Fridays because I thought I had to. I will still probably abstain from meat, but knowing that I don’t have to is kind of a relief.

 

[ZoeBlue]

I don’t really know what the “official” rule is, but I was raised poor and irish-catholic and we never had meat on Fridays. I think it may have just been mum’s way of excusing another meat-free meal during the week. I don’t know. But in my mother and dad’s words, we didn’t eat meat on Fridays because we were Catholic.