Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence. 

Fasting—means eating two small meals and one just to feel satiated. This applies to those who have completed their 18th year until the beginning of their 60th year.

Abstinence—from eating meat on the above days applies to those who are 14+ years.

During Lent we give more attention to prayer, self-denial, generosity towards others especially the needy, and meditating on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so as to become more committed to  loving Him and others.

Prayer: eg. extra Mass attendance, family prayer, visiting a Church,  reading the Bible, making the Stations of the Cross, praying the Rosary. 

Self-Denial: eg. fasting from food, forgoing some entertainment and  giving the money  instead to worthy causes.  Project Compassion is a  major means of expressing our self-denial and helping the poor of our own country and elsewhere.

Helping Others: includes the sick, the elderly, the lonely or the over-burdened etc.

Reminders: Catholics have a serious  obligation to receive Holy Communion worthily at least once a year between Ash Wednesday and Trinity Sunday and to confess any serious sin(s) before doing so.