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Home , Assumption of Mary, December 8, Epiphany (holiday), Holy day of obligation, Trinity Sunday

Catholic Times-Liturgical Life Christopher Carstens

Holy Days of Obligation: A Simple (?) Guide Of the many ritual elements that are observed in a liturgical celebration, those surrounding sacred time and the are perhaps the most confusing. Take, for example, the Assumption of the Blessed Mary on 15. In 2008, this day fell on a Friday and was a . In 2009 it fell on a Saturday but not be a day of obligation. 2010 finds the Assumption on a where it will replace the Sunday and its readings and prayers. Why? Or again: why is the Ascension of , which used to be on a Thursday and a day of obligation, now celebrated on a Sunday? Or again: The of Sts. Peter and Paul is a holy day of obligation in Rome and other places, but not in the . Why all these variations? First of all, it is helpful to understand which days are considered days of “obligation,” where is to be attended (either on that day or the evening preceding) and we are to “abstain from those works and business which hinder the worship to be rendered to , the joy to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body” ( 1247). The universal Church recognizes, apart from Sunday, which she calls “the primordial holy day of obligation,” ten days: the Nativity of our Lord Christ, the , the Ascension, the Body and , Holy Mary the Mother of God, her , her Assumption, Joseph, and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All (Canon 1246 §1). The universal Church law allows for local conferences of , with the Vatican’s approval, to suppress some of these days or to transfer them to a Sunday (Canon 1246 §2). Some countries even add to this list of holy days of obligation the celebration of certain feasts or saints of local importance, such at St. Patrick in Ireland. In the United States the obligatory character of St. Joseph ( 19) and Saints Peter and Paul ( 29) has been suppressed. The of the Epiphany ( 6), the Ascension (Thursday of the Sixth Week of ), and the Body and Blood of Christ (Thursday after Sunday) have been transferred to Sunday. (Some in the United States, it should be noted, still observe as a day of obligation Ascension on the Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter). In these latter cases, the Solemnities are no longer strictly speaking “holy days of obligation,” yet the obligations attached to them remain insofar as they now fall on a Sunday. If you are keeping count, this leaves for the dioceses of the United States of America five days that be called “holy days of obligation”: Mary the Mother of God (), the (), All Saints Day ( 1), the Immaculate Conception ( 8), and (). Simple, right? But wait: of these five days, three of them have an “exceptional” quality. Whenever one of the first three solemnities—Mary the Mother of God, the Assumption, and All Saints Day—falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass and refrain from unnecessary work is lifted. In other words, these days are still observed (Saturday, August 15, 2009 was still the Solemnity of the Assumption), but the obligations attached to them are removed. The last two of these five Solemnities—the Immaculate Conception and Christmas—always retain the obligation, regardless of whether they fall on a Saturday or Monday. The reason is that both days have such high importance: Christmas because it marks, after the Passion, the most important moment in the life of Christ, and the Immaculate Conception because Mary, under this title, is the Patroness of the United States. In short: After Sunday, the universal Church observes ten holy days of obligation. In the United States of America, only five of these are retained as solemnities of obligation. With the exception of the Immaculate Conception and Christmas—the December solemnities—the obligatory character of these days is abrogated if they fall on a Saturday or Monday. Simple, right?