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The five precepts of the Church

On a Sunday morning, a family walks hand in hand up the steps of a small white village church

The precepts of the Church are five, and they mark the minimum for living as a Catholic: go to Mass on Sundays and holy days, go to Confession at least once a year, receive Communion in the Easter season, fast and abstain from meat when the Church asks, and help the Church in its needs. They don’t replace the Ten Commandments: they help us live them, through prayer and the sacraments.

  1. Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.

    And avoid unnecessary work on those days, to rest with God and with the family.

  2. Confess your sins at least once a year.

    This is how we prepare to receive Jesus in the Eucharist with a clean heart.

  3. Receive Holy Communion at least in the Easter season.

    Receiving the Eucharist at least once a year, in the season of Easter.

  4. Fast and abstain from meat on the days the Church sets.

    We fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and don’t eat meat on the Fridays of Lent. Fasting binds from age 18 to 59, and abstinence from age 14. The bishops of each country can adjust the rules.

  5. Help provide for the needs of the Church.

    With our time, our work and our money, each according to what they can.

As a family

Look at the calendar together and mark the holy days of obligation in your country, which change from one country to another, so nobody misses them.

To read more, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2041, 2042, 2043.

The feast that goes with this topic

46 days before EasterAsh Wednesday

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