SCHEDULE

Holy Days of Obligation

One of the precepts of the Church is to attend Mass every Sunday and every holy day of obligation.  In addition, we should abstain from servile work on these days.  These holy days are special to us as Christians.  While the obligation does exist, it is better to think of them as a “holy day of opportunity!”  Think of it as attending your best friend’s party—you wouldn’t want to miss it!  These are days when the whole Catholic Church celebrates together.

There are 5 holy days of obligation that we observe in the USA.  Some of them are always obligatory, and some are non-obligatory when they fall on a Saturday or Monday.  That is a decision that each nation’s bishops’ conference makes.  Here are our holy days of obligation:

• January 1 *Mary, Mother of God
• August 15 *Assumption of Mary
• November 1 *All Saints
• December 8 Immaculate Conception
• December 25 Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

*The ones with an asterisk not obligatory if they fall on a Saturday or Monday.

The Immaculate Conception is always obligatory unless December 8 is a Sunday.  When that happens, the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on Monday, December 9 and there is no obligation to attend Mass.

Christmas is always obligatory.

In addition, some holy days are permanently moved to the closest Sunday, so the holy day obligation is covered by the Sunday obligation:

• Epiphany is permanently moved to a Sunday
• Ascension is permanently moved to a Sunday
• Corpus Christi is permanently moved to a Sunday

There are also a couple holy days that the US bishops have made permanently non-obligatory:

• March 19 Joseph
• June 29 Peter and Paul

Regardless of whether an obligation exists, there will still be Mass celebrated near you.  Join the Church in celebrating our high holy days!