Since ancient times, people who hear the successors of Peter and the apostles preaching Christ instinctively ask, What shall we do? Throughout the centuries, the Church has given trustworthy answers to this question, adapting the unchangeable elements of the Christian vocation to the pastoral requirements of the current age. In our own day, the core responses to this question are summed up in what have come to be known as “The Precepts of the Church.”
 
The Precepts of the Church are derived from Catholicism’s moral and doctrinal foundations, and are reflected in many ways, perhaps most notably in her canon law and liturgical discipline. The Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 2041-2043, lists five precepts of the Church, which are discussed below. Because a sixth precept often appears in other listings, it is also discussed herein. Note that the Precepts of the Church focus on external behavior. The interior attitudes that should animate such activities are better discussed in a different context.
 
Catholics should consult the Precepts of the Church as a sort of “self-assessment” by which their compliance with the minimum criteria for active Church membership can be measured. Non-Catholics can consult the list to see what would be expected of them as Catholics.

 

1. Attend Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation, and rest from servile labor.
2. Confess your sins at least once a year, preferrably during Lent or the Easter season.
3. Receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
4. Observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church, and observing a period of fasting one hour before reception of Holy Communion.
5. Help provide for the needs of the Church through your financial tithes, moral, spiritual and communal support.
6.  Observe the Church's laws on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, marrying within the Church with the proper preparations provided by the Church.