Can I Eat Corned Beef On St. Patrick’s Day When It Falls On A Friday During Lent?

The Lenten Season of 2017 provides an interesting element to the usual fast and abstinence regulations for Catholics:  March 17 - St. Patrick's Day - falls on a Friday;  Catholics are not to consume meat and meat products during certain days of Lent and Friday is one of those.  With a large number of Catholics who are either Irish or trace some part of their heritage to Ireland, this can pose a problem in years when the two events collide.

Worry no more.  In order for Irish people (and non-Irish people celebrating the holiday) to eat their Corned Beef without a guilty conscience, Archbishop Jerome Listecki - who oversees Northern Wisconsin, along with Bishop James Powers of the Diocese of Superior have both issued decrees allowing the one-day deviation from the Lenten meat sacrifice in 2017.  Both of the Bishops suggest that a replacement sacrifice be made.

While it doesn't happen often, St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday of Lent once or twice a decade depending on the date that Easter is observed during that year.