(Corned Beef-Flavored) Crow Eaten Here

Forgive me, forgive me, dear readers.... Archbishop Burke has, in fact, granted the indult in St. Louis, and here is the fulltext:

Each year, the Church sets aside the Season of Lent as a time for personal prayer and penance for the renewal of the Christian life. The Season of Lent begins with the observance of Ash Wednesday which, this year, occurs on March 1st.

In order to assist the faithful to participate in this season of strong grace, the Church sets forth certain penitential practices to be observed. The principal practices are the observance of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as days of fast and abstinence, and the observance of the Fridays of Lent as days of abstinence.

This year, March 17, the Feast of Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, falls on the second Friday of Lent. In light of the time-honored celebration of Saint Patrick on this feast day by various parishes and groups within the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, I am pleased to dispense, in accord with the norm of canon 87, 1, the just-mentioned parishes and groups, as well as the individual members of the faithful who participate in their celebrations, from the observance of Friday, March 17, 2006, as a day of abstinence from meat.

I encourage the faithful for whom the dispensation applies to choose another weekday of the Second Week of Lent as a day of abstinence from meat, in substitution for the observance on Friday, March 17.

Given at the offices of Curia of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, on the twenty-fourth of January, the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, in the Year of the Lord 2006.

And at Pat's Pub, there was great rejoicing....

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