Does Age Resistance and/or Lesser Age Resistance help mitigate some of the aging penalties for being venerable, or is it an all or nothing deal that requires Greater Age Resistance?
The table of aging penalties lists them as three separate penalties that stack, as opposed to one increasing penalty, so I've always assumed that the weaker age resistance spells do remove the penalty from their relative category.
You ignore the physical detriments of being middle-aged. This spell does not cause you to look younger, nor does it prevent you from dying of old age, but as long as the spell is in effect, you ignore the –1 penalties to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution that accrue once you become middle-aged. You retain the age-related bonuses to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma while under the effects of this spell. Additional penalties that you accrue upon becoming old or venerable apply in full.
I read that bolded line as Lesser Age Resistance negating the -1 from middle age. If you are Old or Venerable you still get the -2 or -5 (-2 plus -3) from those penalties, but not the -1 from Middle Age. The word "additional" is what cinches it for me.