There are two Fridays this Lent when Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis may be permitted to eat meat, according to a Feb. 10 memo from the archdiocese’s Office of Worship to clergy, parishes and Catholic institutions.
March 25 is the solemnity of the Annunciation — an important feast day — so there is no obligation to abstain from meat that day. The prior Friday, March 18, is the evening before the solemnity of St. Joseph. Catholics who meet certain requirements could eat meat that evening, too.
“The obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent generally extends from midnight to midnight, and remains in force on March 18,” the memo stated.
“In Thanksgiving, however, for the graces that were received in the Year of St. Joseph, Archbishop Hebda will be granting a dispensation from that obligation to any individuals who have begun their St. Joseph celebration by either praying Evening Prayer I of the Solemnity or attending evening Mass.”
The memo stated that more information about that dispensation is forthcoming.
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