Guidelines for Fast & Abstinence
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.
For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person may eat one full meal and two smaller meals, provided the total does not equal a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday continues 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 celebrate more readily his Resurrection.