MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: Are Fridays Outside Of Lent Still Days Of Penance?

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Yes. As stated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law...

"Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent."

Is traditional to abstain on all Fridays of the year (e.g. eat as a vegetarian). [Note: If one is already a vegetarian, choosing another suitable form of penance may be recommended.]

Also note that...

"Can. 1253 The Episcopal Conference can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

Note that Friday penance may be considered a grave obligation.

Also, recall that our Lord was crucified on Good Friday, so Friday penance should be done in reparation for sin & in Christ's honor.

Note: Regulations may vary (for example, where allowed, it may be possible for an individual to choose their form of penance). Not items may not apply to all persons (e.g. those of a certain age, those with certain health conditions, etc.). For current information regarding what is required for Friday penance in your area, contact your parish or diocese. For medical information, contact a good doctor.

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"The word of God is unmistakable: unless we do penance, we shall perish (Lk. xiii. 3)" (Dom Gueranger)

"The word Penance has other meanings [besides the Sacrament]. It means also those punishments we inflict upon ourselves as a means of atoning for our past sins; it means likewise that disposition of the heart in which we detest and bewail our sins because they were offensive to God." (Baltimore Catechism)

"Penance then is, as it were, a salutary weapon placed in the hands of the valiant soldiers of Christ, who wish to fight for the defense and restoration of the moral order in the universe. It is a weapon that strikes right at the root of all evil, that is at the lust of material wealth and the wanton pleasures of life. By means of voluntary sacrifices, by means of practical and even painful acts of self-denial, by means of various works of penance, the noble-hearted Christian subdues the base passions that tend to make him violate the moral order. But if zeal for the divine law and brotherly love are as great in him as they should be, then not only does he practice penance for himself and his own sins, but he takes upon himself the expiation of the sins of others, imitating the Saints who often heroically made themselves victims of reparation for the sins of whole generations, imitating even the divine Redeemer, who became the Lamb of God 'who taketh away the sins of the world' (John i. 29)." (Pope Pius XI, "Caritate Christi Compulsi", 1932 A.D.)

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