Q. I notice St. Joseph’s Day falls on a Friday this year – are we still to abstain from meat that Friday, since it is Lent?
A. All Fridays throughout the year are penitential days. Jesus suffered His brutal passion and died on Good Friday, and every Friday is to be a reminder of that day when Christ won our salvation.
To allow the faithful to enter into this day, the Church through Canon Law requires that “abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ” (Canon 1251; emphasis added). All Catholics 14 and older are bound to this abstinence.
The Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on Friday, March 19 this year, and, thus, there is no obligation to abstain from meat on this day. In fact, this day should be a great celebration!
This year, the Solemnity of St. Joseph is of special significance because it’s celebrated amidst the “Year of St. Joseph” declared by Pope Francis. In declaring the Year of St. Francis in an apostolic letter, “Patris corde,” the Holy Father said his aim was to “increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal.”
The saints help all the faithful, Pope Francis wrote, “to strive for the holiness and the perfection of their particular state of life.” He said their lives are concrete proof that it is possible to put the Gospel into practice. Let us ask Saint Joseph to intercede for us that we may do so:
Hail, Guardian
of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted
his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace,
mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil.
Amen.
- Pope Francis, “Patris corde”
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