Friday - Ember Friday and Day of Penance

Today is Friday, and as every Friday in the Catholic church is, it is a day of penance.  It is the day Our Lord and Saviour was crucified so that we may live, and the Catholic Church has always marked this day as such.  This is what the current Cannon law says:

Can. 1250: The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

 Can. 1251: Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. 

Can. 1252: The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

For the United States, the Bishops have ruled as follows:

• Every person 14 years of age or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent. 

• Every person between the age of 18 and 60 must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. 

• Every person 14 years of age or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on all other Fridays of the year, unless he or she substitutes some other form of penance for abstinence.