St. Patrick Day Dispensation
In my article last weekend I mentioned that this weekend I would write about the use of Latin in the liturgy as a followup to the article on new translations of liturgical texts. I believe the topic is of relative importance, but over the last 50-60 years the conversation has been repeatedly kicked down the road in order to address other more pressing matters in the life of the Church. Since I wrote my last article our Bishop sent out a memo that is worth acknowledging here. So, in the same spirit of the last few decades, I’ll postpone the conversation on the use of Latin in the liturgy in order discuss this other matter.
On March 2nd, Bishop Daniel Felton published a memo granting a dispensation from the Lenten obligation to abstain from meat on Friday March 17th for the Commemoration of St. Patrick Day. The reasons he gives for doing so are as follows:
“Given the rich spiritual patrimony built up and nurtured in the Diocese of Duluth by the bishops, priests, and religious men and women following in the footsteps of St. Patrick; Given that this legacy continues today and acknowledging the deep devotion that many of the faithful have for St. Patrick in our own day; now therefore in accord with dictates of canon 87 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant a dispensation to all Catholics of the Diocese of Duluth from the obligation to observe abstinence from meat on Friday, March 17th, 2023. This dispensation applies to all Catholics who reside in the Diocese of Duluth and who are actually present within the boundaries of the Diocese of Duluth on Friday, March 17, 2023.”
The bishop goes on to give the following encouragement: “Since we continue to journey together through Lent toward Easter, all those who take advantage of this dispensation are encouraged to undertake some work of prayer, penance or charity at some other time during the week.”
— Fr. Michael Garry
Brainerd Catholic serves residents and visitors of the Lakes Area of Minnesota. Five parishes that include All Saints, rural Baxter, MN - St. Andrew’s, South Brainerd, MN, - St. Francis, North Brainerd, MN, - St. Mathias, St. Mathias, MN - (St. Thomas of The Pines, East Gull Lake, MN Memorial Day through Labor Day) Visit BrainerdCatholic.org for information about joining the church, service times, streaming services, events, and more.