Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. The norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids are allowed, including milk and fruit juices. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. NOTE #1: Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill - including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women. NOTE #2: During the Lenten season, certain feasts occur which the liturgy or local custom traditionally exempts from the Lenten spirit of penance. This year, the Memorial of Saint Patrick falls on Friday, March 17. It is well known that Saint Patrick’s Day is a day of convivial celebration for many American Catholics. Therefore, Bishop Stika has issued a dispensation decree stating: “On Friday, March 17, 2023, all Catholics of the Diocese of Knoxville, by my authority, are dispensed from the abstinence obligation (can. 87 §1). It is not required that anyone make use of this dispensation. Those who do wish to make use of it are encouraged to abstain from meat on some other day as part of their penitential practices and to engage in some additional act of prayer, service to the poor or almsgiving.”