Dispensation from lenten fast on March 17

Fridays are traditionally a day of fasting and abstaining from meat, especially during the penitential season of Lent. Today is also the feast of St. Patrick, which is often marked with celebration. Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ, has granted all Catholics in the Diocese of Oakland a dispensation from the requirement to abstain from all meat on this day, and to consider a separate sacrificial or charitable act today.