So is Ascension Thursday an obligation today or on Sunday?

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April29

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I usually keep an alarm that tells me when I have to go to mass for holy days of obligation, and it rang for today, but then someone told me that the obligation for going to mass for the Ascension today ( on Thursday) was moved to Sunday? So is today a holy day of obligation or not?
 
In Australia it’s Sunday. We are doing Rosaries after Mass too. For the 100th anniversary of Fatima
 
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It depends on where you live. Are you in the US? If so, which state? Are you in another country? If you’re in the US it’s celebrated on Thursday in the Northeast and Nebraska. In.other places it’s been moved to Sunday.
 
I am in the US and my family is staying in Kentucky for a few months.
 
I’ve been trying to Google and to go on church websites, but most don’t have any information, and the ones that do are kind of confusing.
 
If you’re in Kentucky then the Ascension will be celebrated on Sunday. That’s why you’re not finding anything about additional Masses on Thursday.
 
I’m not sure which states are included in these ecclesiastical provinces, but,

For 2018 according to the USCCB, “regarding the Ascension of the Lord, the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia have retained its celebration on the proper Thursday, while all other provinces have transferred this Solemnity to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 13.”

Edit - not 100% sure if this is all of them, but the states seem to be Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Nebraska.
 
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Arwing said:
I’m not sure which states are included in these ecclesiastical provinces, but,

According to the USCCB, “regarding the Ascension of the Lord, the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia have retained its celebration on the proper Thursday, while all other provinces have transferred this Solemnity to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 13.”

Edit - the states seem to be Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Nebraska.
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I live in Morgantown, West Virginia, just south of the Mason Dixon line. We’re in the weird situation where today is NOT a holy day of obligation in our fair town, but travel just a few miles north to Point Marion, Pa., and it is. Many people who make their homes just over the line in Pennsylvania work here in Morgantown. They will be obligated, since as I understand it your obligation depends on where you are “domiciled”.
 
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Trust me, if you needed to go on Thursday it would have been announced in your church bulletin and by the priests multiple times. I am in a state where we need to go on Thursday and I got 3 reminders this week.

In states where it’s on Sunday they just kind of ignore it.
 
MrZoom said:
I live in Morgantown, West Virginia, just south of the Mason Dixon line. We’re in the weird situation where today is NOT a holy day of obligation in our fair town, but travel just a few miles north to Point Marion, Pa., and it is. Many people who make their homes just over the line in Pennsylvania work here in Morgantown. They will be obligated, since as I understand it your obligation depends on where you are “domiciled”.
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Yeah, I could drive a few miles and be in another state too.
The easy way to solve these dilemmas is just go to Mass every day and then you’re going anyway whether it’s a Holy Day of Obligation or not…you just need to check for Mass schedule changes or if the Mass has been moved from a little chapel to the big church anticipating a crowd.
 
I live in Maine. For us today, Ascension Thursday (celebrated 40 days after Easter) is a Holy Day of Obligation.
 
In Canada, the feast will be celebrated this Sunday.

I know a lot of people (cough…Fr. Z’s blog…cough) moan and lament the transfer of the Ascension each year… but I for one greatly appreciate it. As a working professional married to a non-Catholic woman, I would likely find it difficult to get to Mass today…
 
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Every year this question comes up. 🙂

The Ascension is a Holy Day of Obligation where Catholics are obligated to go to Mass. It would ordinarily fall on today (40 days after Easter), however in 1999, the bishops in the U.S. exercised the authority they have under Canon 1246, §2 and determined that each ecclesiastical province in the U.S. would vote on whether to transfer the feast to the following Sunday or leave it on Thursday. (You can see the official letter to that effect on the USCCB website.)

An ecclesiastical province is basically an archdiocese and those dioceses connected to it as “suffragan” dioceses. When the provinces voted, every province elected to transfer the feast except for Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia (evidence of that in footnote 13 of page 24 here).

Here are the dioceses under each province:

Boston
  • Archdiocese of Boston, MA
  • Diocese of Burlington, VT
  • Diocese of Fall River, MA
  • Diocese of Manchester, NH
  • Diocese of Portland, ME
  • Diocese of Springfield, MA
  • Diocese of Worcester, MA
Hartford
  • Archdiocese of Hartford, CT
  • Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
  • Diocese of Norwich, CT
  • Diocese of Providence, RI
New York
  • Archdiocese of New York, NY
  • Diocese of Albany, NY
  • Diocese of Brooklyn, NY
  • Diocese of Buffalo, NY
  • Diocese of Ogdensburg, NY
  • Diocese of Rochester, NY
  • Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY
  • Diocese of Syracuse, NY
Newark
  • Archdiocese of Newark, NJ
  • Diocese of Camden, NJ
  • Diocese of Metuchen, NJ
  • Diocese of Paterson, NJ
  • Diocese of Trenton, NJ
Omaha
  • Archdiocese of Omaha, NE
  • Diocese of Grand Island, NE
  • Diocese of Lincoln, NE
Philadelphia
  • Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA
  • Diocese of Allentown, PA
  • Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, PA
  • Diocese of Erie, PA
  • Diocese of Greensburg, PA
  • Diocese of Harrisburg, PA
  • Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA
  • Diocese of Scranton, PA
So, basically, if you live in New England or Nebraska, you fulfill your Ascension obligation on Thursday (today). If you live somewhere else, you will fulfill your obligation on Sunday.

If you live outside of the United States, you’ll have to consult your own local bishops’ conference to see if the feast was transferred. 🙂
 
twf said:
In Canada, the feast will be celebrated this Sunday.
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Most of Canada. I know a couple of Benedictine abbeys where it is celebrated on the Thursday 😉

(And a Trappist one that celebrates it on Sunday),
 
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