THE PARTICULAR LAW OF THE UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE CODEX CANONUM ECCLESIARUM ORIENTALIUM
Promulgated by
the Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk
April 7, 2015
(ad experimentum for three years)
Unofficial English Translation by Fr.Paul Luniw J.C.O.D., S.T.L. J.C.L. April 2015
Consecration and blessings, Sacred places and times, worship of Saints, a vow and an oath.
115.CCEO: 882
§ 1. Penitential fasting practices, repentance and abstinence that aim to satisfy the sins committed and to achieve the highest level of perfection is the oldest tradition in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
§ 2. All faithful are obliged to fast during the following periods of the liturgical year; The Great Fast and Holy Week; the Petrine fast – from Monday after the Sunday of all Saints to the vigil of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (inclusive); Dormition or Transfiguration fast, - from the Feast of the Procession of the Holy Cross, memorial of the martyrs of Maccabees to the vigil of the Dormition of the Mother of God (inclusive); Christmas or St. Philips fast which begins the day after the feast of St. Philip, concluding on the vigil of Christmas.
1) The strict fast is observed on the first day of the Great Fast and Great and Holy Friday, i.e. abstention from meat, dairy produce, eggs or products containing these ingredients.
2) Abstention from all meats and products containing meat is to be observed during the first week of the Great Fast and all days of Holy Week.
3) During the Great Fast, abstention, from meat products is to be observed on all Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All other foods are permitted on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
4) On other prescribed fast days during the liturgical year, the faithful are obliged to abstain from all meats and meat products on Wednesdays and Fridays. All other foods are permitted on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
§ 3. All the faithful are obliged to fast on the following days; vigil of Christmas, vigil of the Theophany of Our Lord, Beheading of St. John the Baptist and Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
§ 4. Abstention from meat and meat products is to be observed on all Fridays of the year except for compact weeks, patronal feasts and the twelve major feasts.
§ 5. On all fast days and periods of compact weeks the faithful are obliged to refrain from organizing and participating in banquets, weddings, dances and other similar events.
§ 6. For a dispensation from the obligation to fast, the following provisions are to be observed:
1) The periods of compact weeks in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are from the Nativity of Our Lord until the vigil of Theophany; from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee to the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, from Easter Sunday until the Sunday of St. Thomas and from the Descent of the Holy Spirit until the Sunday of All Saints;
2) There is no fast on Saturdays, Sundays, and days celebrating the New Year (31.12. 01.01) and also for the Independence of Ukraine (24.08);
3) The following are dispensed from the obligation of fasting: children up to 14 years, persons who have completed 60 years of age, those seriously ill, pregnant women, postpartum women who are lactating, travelers, (if the travel time exceeds eight hours); hard manual workers, those who eat from the table of others, the poor who live of charity;
4) In particular cases the local hierarch may grant a dispensation from the fast, exhorting the faithful to acts of piety and mercy.
§ 7. Local practices are to be observed, outside the territory of the Major Archiepiscopal church.
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