The Five Precepts of the Church

The Five Precepts of the Church

There are Five Precepts of the Church—laws promulgated by the Church for our benefit. Precepts are rules or laws that we are called to follow, in this case to better live a strong Catholic life and to grow closer to God through His Church.

The Five Precepts

1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation, and rest from servile labor. 

2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year. 

3. You shall receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season. 

4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church. 

5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.

Some may think that the Precepts are extra rules—unnecessary rules. However, when you begin to investigate the precepts, their intent, and the benefit of having followed the precepts as set forth, you will see that they are of immense benefit to your spiritual life, and that you most likely have been following them your whole life.

"You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation, and rest from servile labor."

This precept is straightforward in that you must attend Mass on all Sundays and on all Holy Days of Obligation. People are generally comfortable with Sundays, but what are Holy Days of Obligation? Holy Days of Obligation are days on which something very important in Church history occurred—from the Annunciation of Our Lord to the Ascension, from the Immaculate Conception of Mary to her Assumption (both of which will be discussed in Modules 2 and 3). They are days which represent something very important, and what do we do on those days? We celebrate, of course.

As an aside, in English we get the word "holiday" from the term "Holy Day," as in the old days people had those days off from servile work (field labor, hard work, etc.) to go to Mass and celebrate those times in salvation history. On Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, we celebrate with the highest form of public prayer that the Church has—the Mass.

"You shall confess your sins at least once a year."

This is very important, as you cannot observe the third precept without having first observed this precept. As the precept states, you must confess at least once a year, but every Saint has always suggested frequent confession. The reason is that to confess your sins with proper sorrow and contrition is to be in a state of sanctifying grace with the Lord your God. We are sinful people as a result of the Fall of Man from Adam and Eve, and as such we often sin. Venial sin is more common for most people, as to mortally sin requires full knowledge and consent of the will relating to grave matter. That said, even though people may know that mortal sin is wrong, people still mortally sin. Confession is how you are cleansed of mortal sin and return to God.

"You shall receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season."

Just as Confession is good and necessary for repairing the damages to your soul after sinning, receiving the Eucharist is the source and summit of graces to nourish and strengthen your soul. The Easter season requirement is important in that it keeps us active in the Faith and keeps in mind Who it is we are receiving when we receive the Eucharist—namely Jesus Christ Himself.

"You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church."

Fasting is not just a means that people use to lose weight. Fasting has its origins in religious practices, and as Scripture points out, fasting and prayer are very efficacious. But why are there many days of fasting established by the Church? Fasting in conjunction with prayer is what is called for by the Church. As Christ fasted in the desert for 40 days, we fast and abstain from meat—from warm-blooded animals (beef, pork, chicken, etc.)—to grow closer to Christ in our mortification of fleshly desires.

We also, traditionally, abstain from meat on every Friday throughout the year; current Church law allows the consumption of meat when an appropriate penance is done instead. This is because Our Lord Jesus Christ gave up His life, dying in the flesh, for our salvation.

"You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church."

The first thing that comes to mind when people read this is tithing, tithing, tithing! While tithing is important, as the Church and the charitable acts done by the Church are dependent on tithes, this also means that we care for the needs of the Church in any capacity. The common phrase for this is "time, treasure, and talent."

Do you have time to volunteer to help at the church? Well, that's a need met. Do you have the talent to fix those broken pews or paint the walls? Well, that is a need that is met too. And of course there is treasure. As I said, tithing is important, but there isn't a set percentage on tithing—if you can give, then please do so.