Abstinence:
All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence.

Fast:
All adults are bound by the law of fast from their eighteenth year up to the beginning of their sixtieth year.

Explanation:
The law of abstinence means that a person is bound to abstain beginning the day after one’s fourteenth birthday.

Application:
The law of abstinence forbids the eating of meat and foods prepared with meat or meat by-products. The law of fast allows only one full meal and two lighter meals in the course of a day and prohibits eating between meals. In the United States, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence. All other Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence only.

Exceptions:
Women who are pregnant and persons who are sick are not bound by the law of fast.