St. Joseph's Solemnity Falls on a Friday This Year

The Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on a Friday this year!

This year’s solemnity falls on Fri., Mar. 19., the fourth Friday of Lent. The Church requires Catholics to abstain from meat every Friday during Lent, but occasionally, there are some exceptions. (The Church also requires penance on every Friday of the year.)

Is abstinence from meat required since this year’s Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on a Friday during Lent?

Code of Canon Law 1251 states that “abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.”

The Church considers a solemnity the “highest rank of celebration and is identified in the calendar with an S. Easter, Christmas, All Saints’ Day, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, and other celebrations of events in our Lord’s life on earth and certain saints are solemnities. The Gloria and Creed are always said on such days. Solemnities are like Sundays, though most of them are not days of obligation.”

So the answer is no. The Church does not require Catholics to abstain from meat on this year’s Solemnity of St. Joseph!