In view of the fact that St. Patrick’s Day this year falls on a Friday of Lent, I hereby grant a dispensation from the Church’s law of abstinence for all in the Diocese of Phoenix. I also request that all who avail themselves of this dispensation perform some other work of penance, for example:
- a prayerful visit to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament
- fasting from watching a television show
- visiting someone who is sick or in prison
We do penance in imitation of Jesus’ fast of 40 days in the desert, eager to draw nearer to Him in love.
+Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop of Phoenix
February 15, 2017
