The provided text outlines the fasting and abstinence regulations for the Lenten season in the Diocese of Limerick. The regulations are based on the laws of the Church and are intended to guide the faithful in their observance of Lent, a period of penance and reflection leading up to Easter.
General Law for Fasting:
- Throughout the weekdays of Lent, strict fasting is required. The faithful are allowed one full meal and a collation, consisting of about 2 ounces of solid food. Meat, eggs, cheese, butter, milk, and all white meats are forbidden on these days.
General Law for Abstinence:
- All Sundays of Lent are days of abstinence, which means refraining from eating meat.
General Dispensations:
The Diocese of Limerick, under the authority granted by the Holy See, provides some relaxations of the strict fasting and abstinence rules, while keeping Ash Wednesday, Spy Wednesday, and Good Friday as days of strict fasting. The regulations are as follows:
- At the collation (a light meal), milk and butter are allowed.
- At dinner, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, and white meats are allowed. Additionally, wheat is allowed every day except Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and the Saturday of Quarter-Tense week (March 10th).
- Dripping and lard can be used as condiments or in cooking.
Exceptions from the Fasting Law:
- Individuals under 21 or over 60 years of age.
- Those engaged in labourious work.
- The sick or delicate.
These groups are exempt from strict fasting and may eat the same foods allowed to the faithful generally.
Additional Exemptions:
- Those exempt from fasting may also use milk, butter, eggs, and white meats at all their meals.
- The poor, whose meals are limited and uncertain, are entirely exempt from both fasting and abstinence.
Special Dispensations:
Confessors are granted the authority to grant further dispensations to their penitents, and parish clergy may also provide dispensations to their parishioners as needed.
Paschal Communion:
The time for receiving the Paschal Communion begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on July 6th.
Issued by:
Edward Thomas
Bishop of Limerick
Limerick Echo – Tuesday 06 March 1906
