Saint Faustina wrote:
"Our meals shall be such that not even the poor will have any reason to envy us" (546). So, it's no surprise that St. Faustina didn't eat meat on Fridays even outside of Lent. That was Canon Law. But since St. Faustina's time, Canon Law has allowed us, depending on our bishops conferences, to choose another penance on Fridays in place of abstaining from meat. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops allow a substitute penance. Nevertheless, the USCCB gives "first place to abstinence from flesh meat" (24, Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence)
Is Ash Wednesday a holy day of obligation? Why do we receive ashes? What are the Church's rules on fasting and abstinence? Fr. Chris Alar, MIC has the answers to these and other questions about the holy season of Lent that we are entering into.
If you like good deals, then you’ll appreciate this quote from St. Faustina’s Diary.
Turn to any page of St. Faustina's Diary, and you'll find spiritual gems. Like this one: