When are the Holy Days of Obligation?

[journey00]

I’m sorry for the silly question but I’m confused trying to figure out on my calendar which are the Holy Days of Obligation (besides Sunday). There was one day that I thought was but then my parish bulletin published that it was not and mandatory attendance was not required.

If someone could just tell me or give me a link to a website, I would be much obliged.

Thank you

 

[Chuck1]

Hi the holy days of obligation as far as I know are :
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (the Feast of the Circumcision in the 1962 Missal and Calendar)
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension
August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
November 1, the solemnity of All Saints
December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hope that’s helped you

 

[journey00]

Yes Yes thank you!

 

[Jayne_L]

Where are you?

Chuck is in the UK - no doubt his list is the list for the UK. It may not be accurate for your location. For example, I am in Australia. Other than Sundays, we only have two other Holy Days of Obligation. The Assumption and Christmas day.

I know in some places in the US, the obligation still exists for some days, but it has been moved to the Sunday.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Please also call your parish or diocese to check that the bishop has not moved the celebration of any HDOs in your area. Ascension Thursday is often moved to Sunday and when some Marian days fall on a Monday they are moved back to Sunday.

We are to treat a HDO as if it were a Sunday, which means not only going to Mass, but as a day of rest. Since it is not easy for people to get a day off of work or school, the bishops move some days in order to allow us to celebrate them more fully.

 

[anp1215]

Since I don’t know your country, I thought I would link to this handy chart that lists the days of obligation by country
beginningcatholic.com/catholic-holy-days-of-obligation.html

Also, for the U.S., this is from Canon Law:
*
On December 13, 1991 the members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States of American made the following general decree concerning holy days of obligation for Latin rite Catholics:

In addition to Sunday, the days to be observed as holy days of obligation in the Latin Rite dioceses of the United States of America, in conformity with canon 1246, are as follows:

1. January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
2. Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension
3. August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
4. November 1, the solemnity of All Saints
5. December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
6. December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ [list numbers are not in original]

Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

It should be noted that the Ascension is celebrated on Sunday in many dioceses of the US (in accordance with a decision to allow this transfer), reducing the practical number to 5 in many places.*
ewtn.com/expert/answers/holy_days_of_obligation.htm

If you live in the ecclesiastical province of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, or Omaha, you are obligated to go to Mass on Ascension Thursday.

Additionally, just in case you live in Hawaii, you are only obligated to attend Mass on two days of obligation: Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) and Christmas.

Hope this helps!

 

[Matthew_Holford]

The holy days of obligation are all Sundays plus solemnities called solemnities of precept. The Holy See has decreed that there are ten such solemnities of precept:

Four in honour of the Lord

1. 
   *]Nativity
   *]Epiphany
   *]Ascension
   *]Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
   
   Three in honour of our Lady
   1. 
      *]Mary, Mother of God
      *]Assumption
      *]Immaculate Conception
      
      Three in honour of saints
      1. 
         *]St. Joseph
         *]Ss. Peter & Paul
         *]All Saints
         
         Individual episcopal conferences may, with the approval of the Holy See, remove the precepts from these holy days. The Holy See asks every country to keep at least the Nativity of the Lord and one day in honour of our Lady. If the precepts are removed from Epiphany, the Ascension, and Corpus Christi, these solemnities must be permanently assigned to Sundays.
         
         In England & Wales we have the following: Nativity of the Lord, Assumption of the BVM, Ss. Peter & Paul, and All Saints. The Epiphany, Ascension, and Corpus Christi have had the precept removed and so they’ve been transferred to a Sunday so in effect are still celebrated as holy days of obligation. The English & Welsh bishops have also introduced another requirement, approved by the Holy See: if the Assumption, Ss. Peter & Paul, or All Saints fall on a Saturday or Monday, the solemnity is transferred to the neighbouring Sunday.