This questions seems, in a certain sense, inseparable from the theme of suffering. The Christian response to it is different, for example, from the one given by certain cultural and religious traditions which hold that existence is an evil from which one needs to be liberated. Christianity proclaims the essential good of existence and the good of that which exists, acknowledges the goodness of the Creator and proclaims the good of creatures. Man suffers on account of evil, which is a certain lack, limitation or distortion of good. We could say that man suffers because of a good in which he does not share, from which in a certain sense he is cut off, or of which he has deprived himself. He particularly suffers when he a ought"—in the normal order of things—to have a share in this good and does not have it.
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html
Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent. Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar III. Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials 12. The celebration of the two greatest Solemnities, Easter and the Nativity, is extended over eight days. Each Octave is governed by its own rules. Title II – The Cycle of the Year II. Easter Time 24. The first eight days of Easter Time constitute the Octave of Easter and are celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord. IV. Christmas Time 35. The Nativity of the Lord has its own Octave, arranged thus: e. 29, 30, and 31 December are days within the octave; [nothing indicates they're Solemnities] Table of Li...
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