During Lent, individuals 14 and older are required to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent including Good Friday, according to Bishop W. Francis Malooly, western vicar and vicar general for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The regulations for fasting apply to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The rule applies to individuals 18-60 and allows one full meal to maintain strength and two smaller meals which together do not equal the full meal. There is no eating of solid foods between the meals and all meals must be meatless.
“The regulations are there to help us be attuned to the season and focus more on our relationship with the Lord and how we serve the needs of others,” Bishop Malooly said. “And anytime we have any devotion or prayer service, it’s a way of keeping us focused in a rather busy, hectic world on the importance of God in our life.”