What are all the Penances We Catholics are **required **to do
I will focus on
required penances.
It is a Catholic teaching that without penance one cannot be saved, and the Church stipulates some required penances so that every observant Catholic meets that minimal condition, and so that we are united in our penance.
Knowing the required penances is important then, for it is the threshold of sin with regard to penance. If one observes the penance required by the Church then one cannot sin with regard to lack of penance, whereas, if one observes other penances, but not (knowingly) the required penances, then one has sinned. Also, apart from matter of sin, there is great value in sharing one’s days and types of penance with the whole Church.
There is
canon law on the matter. In a nutshell:
• Abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year
• Fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
• These days of penance are also to be observed by prayer, works of charity, and self denial
But the canon law is usually applied by the local bishops’ conference. Unfortunately, it can a be little hard to find the latest rulings, as they tend to be promulgated once a year in Lent, without mentioning the other obligations.
The best I can find
for Australia is:
Abstinence from meat, and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
All who have completed their eighteenth year and have not yet begun their sixtieth year are bound to fast.
All who have completed their fourteenth year are bound to abstain.
Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday (21st Febuary) to the mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive (5th April).
The Easter Fast is observed on Good Friday and if possible on Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil.
On all Fridays of the year the law of the common practice of penance is fulfilled by performing any one of the following:
• Prayer – for example, attending an additional Mass; a time of Scripture study and prayer; making the Stations of the Cross; praying the Rosary.
•Self-denial – for example, abstinence from meat; not eating sweets or dessert; giving up entertainment; limiting forms of food and drink and luxuries so as to give to the poor and those in need.
•Deeds of charity – for example, setting aside special time and effort to help someone who is poor, sick, elderly, lonely or overburdened.
I believe that the situation is similar in the US, however there is some credible argument about the requirement for Friday penance throughout the year. (see Jimmy Aiken on Friday Penance -
One and
Two.)
Even still, the specific required penances are not the same as positive moral laws (eg. against lying) which admit no exception - if they were, the bishops could not change them. For instance, if one’s children were starving, and some meat were available on Good Friday, and you only had one day to eat that meat, then you should eat it.
Advent is also observed as a time of penance, but there are no Church requirements, apart from the usual penance applicable to all Fridays. I would guess that religious orders have rules for Advent - in which case they become a “requirement” for the members of that order. There are no requirements for the laity.
