2008 LENTEN REGULATIONS – DIOCESE OF HONOLULU
1] All members of the Christian faithful,
in their own way, are bound to do penance in virtue of divine law, in order that all may be joined in a common observance
of penance, penitential days such as the Season of Lent are prescribed during which the Christian faithful in a special way,
pray, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their responsibilities more faithfully and especially
by observing fast and abstinence to the norms of the following directives (Canon 1249):
ABSTINENCE
2] All
persons who have completed their fourteenth (14th) year are bound by the law of abstinence from meat.
3] Complete abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday, the Fridays of Lent, and Good Friday
during the Triduum.
4] The
faithful will not lightly excuse themselves from this obligation. On days of complete abstinence, meat and soup or gravy made
from meat is not to be eaten.
FAST
5] All adults are bound by law to fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth(60th) year.
According to Canon 97, #1; a person who has completed their eighteenth
(18th) year is an adult. The day of fast during Lent is Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008; the day of fast
during the Triduum is Good Friday, March 21, 2008.
6] The faithful will not lightly excuse themselves from this obligation.
PENANCE AND GOOD WORKS
7] The faithful are encouraged during the period of Lent to attend daily Mass, to receive Holy Communion, to participate
in penance services and to receive Sacramental Absolution; to take part as frequently as possible in public and private exercises
of piety, to give generously to works of religion and charity, to perform acts of kindness toward the sick, the aged, and
the poor, to practice voluntary self-denial especially regarding food and drink and worldly amusements; and to pray more fervently,
particularly for intentions of the Holy Father.
8] Ash
Wednesday, the first day of Lent, falls this year on February 6, 2008. Ashes are to be blessed and distributed as a sign of
our entry into a season of conversion, repentance and reconciliation. Ashes are to be blessed by a bishop, priest, or deacon
only. Others (special ministers or delegated lay persons) may be associated with the bishop, priests and deacons in the imposition
of ashes.
9] It
is contrary to the penitential spirit of the Season of Lent to request elaborate weddings with a number of bridal attendants
and lavish decorations.
10] It is customary
at Immaculate Conception Parish that we do not celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism during the Lenten Season. We do have Baptisms
at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday.
11] All the faithful, after they have been initiated into the
Most Holy Eucharist, are bound by the obligation of receiving Communion at least once a year. This precept is to be fulfilled during the Easter Season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at some other
time during the year. The period is extended to include all the weeks of Lent and of the Easter Season up to
Trinity Sunday, May 18, 2008.
