Penitential Days and Feast Days and Solemnities...When Can I Eat Meat?

There is a lot of confusion among active, practicing Catholics as to whether or not they can eat meat on Fridays in Lent during Feast Days and Solemnities. I've even heard that some Catholics in Lent continue Lenten observances on Sundays. So what does the church ask of the faithful in these matters? Let's find out.

First we need to establish what we are talking about here. In the church calendar there are different 'days' which are celebrated and observed. Much like the secular calendar has days of celebration such as Independence Day, there are also days of remembrance and mourning such as Memorial Day.

In the Church calendar there are Penitential Days, , Feast Days, and Solemnities. Solemnities are the highest days of the church year. These days are our "greatest celebrations." Common sense tells us, as the church is loaded with common sense, that we can't both be penitential and have our greatest celebrations (solemnities) at the same time.

The Code of Canon Law, the written legal system which governs faithful, provides the direction that Catholics need regarding these issues.

Canon 1250 provides for us what days are considered Penitential:

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

All Solemnities are Feast days, but not all Feast days are Solemnities. The Days which are Solemnities are provided in Canon 1246.1:

Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation. The following days must also be observed: the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All Saints.

Therefore, when a Solemnity lands on the same day as a Penitential day, there the requirements of a regular Penitential day are removed. And in case there was any confusion Canon 1251 takes the cake:

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.

This is precisely why the regular Lenten observations, as Penitential Days, are removed on Sundays, since every Sunday is a Solemnity!

So rejoice always in the Lord! Especially on those Solemnities on Fridays in Lent and every Sunday!