Holy Days of Obligation- Do Many Go These Days?

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The first time the new Saturday and Monday rules for Holy Days came to my attention was in Milwaukee in August 1992. I called the chancery there and said it was a bad idea and I still think it was. Years ago people basically did go but now they miss, most if not all holy days and don’t remember that in the USA 12/8 is always a holy day.

For years I have noticed that the parochial kids are there for the holy days but not on 1/1 or 8/15 because school is not in session. As a CCD kid myself and now a CCD parent I am cognizant of the difference between school families and CCD families.

We have a bad snow here in Nebraska but mine were the only kids at Mass this morning at 10 am. No homeschoolers either. The weather is worsening so hopefully everyone went last night but I wanted to vent once again that relaxing the rules leads to chaos for holy day Mass attendance.

I believe the same would have if moral laws could be relaxed. The Lambeth Conference in 1930 relaxed the rules but everybody ran through. Thalidimide gave people cause to relax their thinking in abortion but now we have abortion on demand and it has reached near sacramental status for the secularists.
 
I actually find the expression “Holy Day of obligation” odious.

If one is not aware of the great signifance of the Dormtion of the Theotokos, or Holy Cross, for examples, and does not WANT to attend services on those days, will making them an “obligation” with the concomitant resentment improve the individual spiritual condition?
 
I’ve found attendance at Holy Days to be pretty light myself, even on days with good weather. Many Mass times are during work hours, so those who work are unable to go them, or after work, when most people are reluctant to go anywhere after work.

It’s snowing pretty good here in Minnesota, so I’m sure that will play a part in how many people will go out on the roads tonight for Mass. I myself had to change my plans and go to Mass during work, since I’m not sure I’ll get home in time for Mass at my local parish. I am fortunate enough to work 2 blocks from a Catholic church. 10 am Mass was pretty full.
 
I can’t speak for others but I know my whole family never misses a Holy Day of Obligation. I have only missed one to date, and that was because I was hope sick with swine flu. LOL. I made my husband go, and just took a nap and read scripture while he was gone. He wanted to stay home and take care of me, but since he wasn’t a walking contaminant, I told him to go for both of us 😉
 
Our church was packed this morning for 6:30am mass. I felt like I shouldn’t have beeen taking up a seat, since I’m still in RCIA and couldn’t take communion. 🙂
 
There were quite a few at our vigil mass last night and I am going to the 7pm service tonight. 😃
 
Here in the northeast, outside of a few communities, generally holy days of obligation are not well attended. Our culture is fairly adverse to being told anything is an “obligation.” And while most Catholics accept the Sunday obligation (even those who don’t attend realize they should) there isn’t a large acceptance of the idea that the Church should require people to attend “random” weekday masses. 12/8 I think is probably one of the better attanded holy days (outside of Christmas). In August most people are in vacation mode and either forget or don’t feel as if its warranted. The Ascension barely nets anyone. And while 1/1 nets a decent size, most people don’t understand what it has to do with “Mary, Mother of God.”
Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, which is not a day of obligation is almost always overflowing. And other non-obligation days like Holy Thursday & Good Friday also get good crowds.

So, I think if people see a practical connection to the day they will attend whether its an “obligation” or not. However our modern westernized culture has drifted apart from the notion of “feast days” and fails to see a point to attending certain days.
 
I know what you mean… I went right before school this morning… it looked like the typical daily mass crowd. Besides me and one of my friends… We were the only ones under 35 I think!:rolleyes:
 
I like holy days or obligation because they are about they only times that mass is offered after school 😃 (At least in San Antonio(At churches near me(to the extent of my knowledge))) 😛
 
At my parish (rural but close to a college town) 6:30 a.m. mass was well attended. When I drove past right before the 8:30 a.m. mass the parking lot was pretty full. I am going to imagine the 7:00 p.m. mass will be packed as the Tuesday evening masses usually are. The priest reminded everyone on Sunday that if they intentionally miss mass on a Holy Day they cannot receive the Eucharist without going to confession first.
 
I was working in our parishes office this morning during the 9am Mass and when I came out I was surprised to see the parking lot was full. And since it was 14 degrees in town this morning, that’s not bad at all! The sprinklers were left on around the Church and the gardens look like ice sculptures. I’m meeting my husband at the 6 pm Mass when he gets done with work. I’d be surprised if many people were there, because we live in a small town and the 9am was so full, but who knows? I would think that a lot of people would have been at work at 9, so maybe there will be a crowd tonight too.

In the past I think it’s seemed like the Church was about half full (compared to most Sundays) on Holy Days of Obligation.
 
It sounds like many of you are blessed with multiple opportunities to get to Mass on Holy Days. The only time Mass is offered around here on Holy Days is in the evening and because of this weather it is simply too dangerous to even attempt. So I expect attendance will be VERY sparse at my local parishes. Complete bummer, I was looking forward to going to Mass :(.
 
I live in Trinidad, where a number of Holy Days are transferred to the following Sunday - i.e. Ascension Thursday.

Generally, attendance at those Holy Days that can occur on weekdays is at least as good as Sunday, if not better, since they are also Public Holidays! New Year’s Day and Corpus Christi are both Public Holidays here, so no one has an excuse that they have to work!
 
I attended the Vigil Mass last night and I have to say, it was pretty packed. It usually isn’t that packed for a Holy Day of Obligation especially since it was very cold last night. There was a Mass this morning, and one tonight, and I don’t know how those will turn out, but maybe there will be more, less, or about the same.
 
Joan_M said:
I live in Trinidad, where a number of Holy Days are transferred to the following Sunday - i.e. Ascension Thursday.

Generally, attendance at those Holy Days that can occur on weekdays is at least as good as Sunday, if not better, since they are also Public Holidays! New Year’s Day and Corpus Christi are both Public Holidays here, so no one has an excuse that they have to work!
Click to expand...
Can the Immaculate Conception be transferred to the following Sunday? Because the following Sunday is a Sunday of Advent.
 
I realize that many people (like me) have jobs during the day, but my faith absolutely comes first. I attend Mass each morning at 6:30 a.m., and I alert my employers that I might be just a little late to work on Holy Days of Obligation if there is a large crowd. I have never once been rebuked for that (and I work for lawyers with very little patience for office absences). They know I am a Catholic and I take my faith very seriously, and they appreciate that I alert them to my possibly being late. They usually smile politely and ask me how the service went, and then ask questions about which Holy Day it is and ask about it’s significance.

I am quite puzzled by others in my office who shrug their shoulders and say they just “can’t make time”. CAN’T MAKE TIME??? Can’t make time FOR GOD??? :eek: Obviously living in a rural area with few options to attend services might make a difference, but I live in a large metropolitan area and there are Churches EVERYWHERE. In the downtown Dallas area we have the beautiful Cathedral, as well as a small chapel that adds extra services for the convenience of business people during Holy Days. We can make time, we must make time. It is our privilege and our duty as children of God to worship Him. There is absolutely nothing in our lives more important than worshipping Him!
 
Where I am at right now, they had 3 Masses offered. 7:30am, 12:05pm, and 7:00pm tonight. I was working through the first two, and the weather is so bad I’m not going to attempt to go out tonight. 😦 This will be the first Holy Day of Obligation that I miss going to Mass. But snow for 24 hours straight and me driving in a car is not a good combination. 😦
 
my parish, along with two other nearby parishes had mass this morning at 8:30. I attended the 8:30 this morning since I took the day off work. Although my parish is a small one (about 400 families), about half the church was full (about the same number as the 8:00 on Sunday morning). my parish had a 7:30 last night, but I was attending adoration. within a five parish cluster, two parishes had mass last night (6:30pm and 7:30pm), this morning, one had 6:30am, three had 8:30am, one has 6:30pm, and two parishes have 7:30pm tonight. the 8:30am was the best time for me… if I did have to work today, I could have went 6:30 tonight or a parish about 15 miniutes from my work that had a 4:30 children’s mass
 
Not having a “professional” career (still being a student and all), and knowing my lack of motivation to leave my house, if I have a scheduling conflict with work or school, I always alert them that I simply won’t be there or will be there later than usual. It compels me to go because 1) it’s a Holy Day of Obligation, and 2) my employer or professor was kind enough to excuse my absence, so I should at least be doing what I told them I would be doing. 😃

I’ve only missed a couple HDO’s since I moved out of my parents’ house–one because of a level three snow emergency (by law, EVERYONE should have missed that one) and the second because I got the date wrong and showed up to the Cathedral the next day. 😊
 
We dont have a vigil but we had three Masses today. I went to the 9am and it was well attended considering it being a work day. There was one at 7am and the other was at 7pm tonight with Evening prayers at 645pm.

I live in the North East (suburb of Hartford, CT) and we have a very active and lively parish (unusual in this area to be honest) I expect attendance for today will be pretty close to what our normal attendance on Sundays are. Not as much of course, but pretty close. 🙂

Even the priest who was the celebrant at the Mass I attended (not our normal parish priest but a retired one who helps him out from time to time) expressed his delight at not only how well it was attended but that fact that we have a decent music ministry that really adds a great deal to our liturgy 🙂

He gleemed with joy at how well attended the Mass was. 🙂
 
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