Christ's Conception vs The Immaculate Conception

[obvious_ron]

Why is the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation whereas the Annunciation is not? Why does the feast of the conception of Christ get relegated when it falls on a Sunday during Lent? Would not the feast of the Word made flesh be considered a higher feast?

 

[De_Maria]

Why is the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation whereas the Annunciation is not? Why does the feast of the conception of Christ get relegated when it falls on a Sunday during Lent? Would not the feast of the Word made flesh be considered a higher feast?

You’re pitting mere days with entire seasons.

The Feast of the Word made Flesh is an entire Season. It is called the Eastertide.

The entire reason for the Enfleshment of Jesus Christ is so that He would die for our sins. Thus, Easter is the celebration of our Lord made Flesh.

Notice that Easter is a moving feast and the Annunciation frequently falls right in the middle of it.

The Second most important Feast for Christians, is the Christmastide. Another entire season.

We celebrate seasons for our Lord, Jesus Christ. We celebrate a day here and there for Our Lady.

Not to mention Advent and Lent, which are entire seasons just to prepare for the tides of feasts in Our Lord’s honor.

I hope that helps.

 

[paperwight]

It’s not a universal Holy Day of Obligation, unlike Christmas.

It’s not a HDO in the UK, for instance.

I think it’s a HDO in the US because isn’t Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception one of your national patrons?

 

[Milt]

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception one of your national patrons?

Yes she is.

I know patrons England is St. George, Scotland St. Andrew, Wales is St. David I think, and N, Ireland is probably St. Patrick, but does the UK as a whole have a patron?

 

[midori]

Here’s a list of Holy Days of Obligation for Catholics in England and Wales.

Every Sunday
Nativity of the Lord (25 December)
Epiphany of the Lord (6 January*)
Ascension of the Lord (Thursday after 6th Sunday of Easter)
St Peter & St Paul (29 June*)
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August*)
All Saints (1 November*)
Body and Blood of the Lord (in June-- transferred to Sunday)

–edit–

Looking at some information in the US, I hadn’t realized:

While the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church mandates ten Holy Days of Obligation, the bishops’ conference of each country can reduce that number. In the United States, two of the other four Holy Days of Obligation—Epiphany and Corpus Christi—have been moved to Sunday, while the obligation to attend Mass on the other two days, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, has simply been removed.

In addition, in most dioceses in the United States, the celebration of the Ascension has been transferred to the following Sunday. (For more information, see Is Ascension a Holy Day of Obligation?)

 

[1ke]

It’s not a universal Holy Day of Obligation

Yes, it is a universal holy day of obligation. See canon law for list of universal feast days that have been deemed HDO.

Some bishop’s conferences have received permission to dispense the obligation every year or in certain years. Because Mary under the title Immaculate Conception is the patron saint of the US, the HDO is never dispensed here.

 

[paperwight]

paperwight:

It’s not a universal Holy Day of Obligation

Yes, it is a universal holy day of obligation. See canon law for list of universal feast days that have been deemed HDO.

Some bishop’s conferences have received permission to dispense the obligation every year or in certain years. Because Mary under the title Immaculate Conception is the patron saint of the US, the HDO is never dispensed here.

I see your point. I will re-phrase my answer, then, ‘It is not an HDO mandated worldwide,’

 

[1ke]

I see your point. I will re-phrase my answer, then, ‘It is not an HDO mandated worldwide,’

You are missing the point. It is a HDO and it is mandated worldwide by the law itself.

In specific locations an exception is granted.

May seem like a nit, but it isn’t

 

[FrDavid96]

I see your point. I will re-phrase my answer, then, ‘It is not an HDO mandated worldwide,’

It may seem to be two ways of saying the same thing, but it’s not.

The term “universal law” has a specific meaning in canon law.

It actually does matter that we say “a universal law that has been dispensed in a certain place” and not say “It is not an HDO mandated worldwide,” It is indeed mandated worldwide, but afterwards it is dispensed in certain places.

It matters because there is a difference between universal and local laws. There’s a difference between a law which does not exist in a certain place and a universal law which has been dispensed in a certain place.

It’s important for us to make the linguistic distinction because in the Code of Canon Law (roughly the first 100 canons) this distinction is extremely important.

 

[FrDavid96]

Why is the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation whereas the Annunciation is not? Why does the feast of the conception of Christ get relegated when it falls on a Sunday during Lent? Would not the feast of the Word made flesh be considered a higher feast?

The reason is likely because the Annunciation almost always occurs during Lent. The only way it cannot is if it happens during Easter week–since the earliest possible day for Easter is March 22 (and even then only if the equinox is the 20th and the full moon is the 21st, and Sunday the 22nd which might happen every few thousand years or so) So it must be either Lent or Easter week.

Making it a universal Holy Day of Obligation would cause a lot of confusion.

 

[paperwight]

I see, Thank you, Ike and Fr. David.

 

[obvious_ron]

Okay. I went to an Orthodox Christian church one Sunday during Lent. It happened to be the feast of the Annunciation. While Lenten Sundays in the Orthodox tradition are celebrated with the Liturgy of Saint Basil, this particular Sunday was celebrated with the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. So, there was a change to accommodate the feast day.

Why, then, couldn’t the Roman Catholic Church somehow do the same? Do the Eastern Catholic churches follow the Orthodox tradition on this?

 

[FrDavid96]

…

Why, then, couldn’t the Roman Catholic Church somehow do the same?

There’s nothing stopping that. It’s simply a choice that was made when the calendar norms were written.

Do the Eastern Catholic churches follow the Orthodox tradition on this?

There are about 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. Each has its own calendar. Therefore there are 22 different answers. Generally speaking, they don’t move the Annunciation.

 

[De_Maria]

Technically,

1. Every Sunday is a Holy Day of Obligation. And every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. Every Holy Day of Obligation is celebrated within the context of the Mass, which is the commemoration, re-presentation, of the Sacrifice of Our Lord, at Calvary.

So, all Holy Days of Obligation are Christocentric.

In addition, the Mass is celebrated everyday. Because everyday is the Lord’s day.

So, you’re pitting mere moments, against the entire year.

 

[OsculeturMeOsculo]

The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady is the patroness of the United States, so we celebrate the feast here in America. Other countries have different holy days of obligation.

 

[obvious_ron]

My thoughts are that the Anunciation might merit some extra attention. Also, I think it would be a perfect feast day of for the pro life movement. Christ was incarnate at that particular moment. Mary’s womb became more spacious than the heavens. The Word of God was made flesh.

 

[godisgood77]

The Immacuate Comception is feast day celebrating God’s act of making Mary … it’s not a Marian day, but a God Day, no?

 

[De_Maria]

Exactly! We celebrate Mary because she is the Mother of Christ.