The following is from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
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 is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued 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 to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.
* * *
Ash Wednesday is on February 18 and the Mass schedule is as follows:
Mass at STM at 5pm
Mass at OLS at 7pm
Also if anyone has old palm branches they would like to have properly disposed of, please drop them off at church in a bag and hand them to me. I will burn them at a later date. May God help all of us to enter into Lent with hearts ready to meet our Lord.
Fr. Thomas P. Galarneault