I asked in post 266 if this was an obligation for Catholics. I haven't gotten a reply yet.
Sorry, didn't see that. The only Lenten obligations we have in addition to our normal obligations as Catholics are to abstain from meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday and to Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
From the EWTN website, it states that it is a "mandatory tradition" for those who wish to follow the Roman Catholic tradition.
They do clearly state that it is a man-created tradition, not a doctrinal mandate and subject to numerous exceptions (age, illness (e.g., diabetic), prison, bootcamp, etc).
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/lent/fast.htm