Yesterday was Ash Wednesday which marked the beginning of Lent. I attended mass at 6pm and ashes were placed on my forehead (Imposition of Ashes) as a sign of repentance to God. For some, ashes on their forehead is enough observance for the first day of lent, however, having studied in Catholic Schools since kindergarten to law school, I was constantly reminded that we should observe fasting and abstinence. I was not able to sleep well last night and woke up with my conscience bothering me.
There are only two (2) days in a year when Catholics are required to FAST and ABSTAIN from meat. They are during Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. FASTING means we can only have one (1) full meal in a day and ABSTINENCE means no meat. Catholics ages 18 to 59 years old should practice fasting and abstinence on these two days. This was usually easy for me even when I was pregnant. But yesterday was different, I ate 3 full meals!
