14th February is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a day of fasting and abstinence. The law of fasting al­lows only one full meal; two smaller meals may also be taken during the day. Fasting binds those who have attained their majority (18 years), until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Abstinence from meat binds those who have completed their fourteenth year (NB: In England and Wales, every Friday during the year is a day of abstinence from meat).