Question Four: On the Subject of Fasting and Abstinence

S. Th. II-II, q. 147, a. 4.

965. The Code (can. 1254) defines the subject of the law of fasting and abstinence:

"§ 1. By the law of abstinence all are bound who have completed the seventh year of age.

"§ 2. By the law of fasting all are bound from the completed twenty-first year of age to the begun sixtieth."

Hence:

1. All the faithful, having the use of reason, after the completion of the seventh year, unless they are excused or dispensed, are bound by the law of abstinence.

2. All the faithful, having the habitual use of reason, after the completion of the twenty-first year and until the sixtieth year has been reached, are bound by the law of fasting, unless they are excused or dispensed. Therefore women also are bound after the fiftieth year, whatever some once taught; and before the twenty-first year one is not bound, because at that age more abundant food is needed for growth and strength.

It has now been declared, according to can. 34, § 3, that the obligation begins at midnight and terminates at midnight. Hence, if someone was born after midnight, the obligation begins after the anniversary day on which the seventh or twenty-first year is completed; and fasting ceases after the anniversary day on which the fifty-ninth year is completed, or the sixtieth begun.