Holy days of obligation are feast days on which Catholics are required to attend Mass and to avoid (to the extent that they are able) servile work. The observance of Holy Days of Obligation is part of the Sunday Duty, the first of the Precepts of the Church, and are listed in Canon 1246 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Holy Days of Obligation are days other than Sundays on which Catholics are required to participate in the Mass, the primary form of worship. Any feast celebrated on a Sunday, such as Easter, falls under normal Sunday Duty and thus isn’t included in a list of Holy Days of Obligation.
There are currently 10 Holy Days of Obligation in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and five in the Eastern Catholic Churches; in the United States, only six Holy Days of Obligation are observed.
What Is an Obligation?
A lot of people misunderstand what it means to say that Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. This isn’t an arbitrary rule, but part of general moral life—the need to do good and avoid evil. That is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Para. 2041) describes the obligations listed in the Precepts of the Church as “the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.” These are things that, as Christians, Catholics should want to do anyway; the Church uses the Precepts of the Church (of which the listing of Holy Days of Obligation is one) simply as a way to remind adherents of the need to grow in holiness.
What the Church Prescribes
The Code of Canon Law for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church lists (in Canon 1246) the 10 universal Holy Days of Obligation, though it notes that each country’s bishops’ conference can, with the permission of the Vatican, modify that list:
Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church. Also, to be observed are the day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary Mother of God and her Immaculate Conception and Assumption, Saint Joseph, the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and finally, All Saints.
However, the conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with prior approval of the Apostolic See.
Norms for the United States
The bishops of the United States petitioned the Holy See in 1991 to remove three of the universal Holy Days of Obligation—Corpus Christi (the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ), Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul—and to transfer the celebration of Epiphany to the nearest Sunday. Thus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lists the following Holy Days of Obligation in the United States:
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
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
Moreover, “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.”
In addition, the USCCB received permission in 1999 for each ecclesiastical province in the United States to decide whether Ascension would be celebrated on its traditional day (Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter Sunday) or transferred to the following Sunday (43 days after Easter).
Holy Days of Obligation in the Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches are governed by their own Code of Canons of Oriental Churches, which lists the following Holy Days of Obligation in Canon 880:
“Holy days of obligation common to all the Eastern Churches, beyond Sundays, are the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Dormition of the Holy Mary Mother of God and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul except for the particular law of a Church sui iuris approved by the Apostolic See which suppresses holy days of obligation or transfers them to a Sunday.”
Octave of Christmas
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
January 1
A Holy Day of Obligation
Celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in salvation through her divine and virginal motherhood as the Mother of Jesus Christ, Son of God.
Epiphany
January 6.
A Holy Day of Obligation
Celebrates Christ’s revelations to man.
Ash Wednesday
February 9
Not a Holy Day of Obligation
A day of Fast and Abstinence.
Begins the season of Lent by imposing ashes on foreheads with the sign of our redemption, the Cross. A call to “turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Abstinence from meat is observed on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent by all Catholics 14 years and older.
Fasting is observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by all Catholics who are 18 years of age but not yet 59. Those bound by this rule may take only one full meal. Two smaller meals are permitted as necessary to maintain strength according to one’s needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.
The special Paschal fast and abstinence are observed on Good Friday and, where possible, Holy Saturday (For further explanation of the Paschal fast, see The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, par. 110, December 4, 1963). On these days, Christians prepare themselves by these disciplines in anticipation of the renewal of their baptismal commitment on Easter.
From its earliest days, the Church has urged the baptized and the catechumens to observe the threefold discipline of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer as a preparation for the celebration of Easter. Failure to observe individual days of penance is not considered serious, but failure to observe any penitential days at all or a substantial number of such days must be considered serious.
During Lent the Church encourages attendance at daily Mass, self-imposed times of fasting, and generosity to local, national, and world-wide programs of sharing.
March 19
A Holy Day of Obligation
Celebrates the life of the foster father of Jesus.
Season of Lent
A season of conversion, marked by two themes, baptismal and penitential. These forty days help us to prepare for Easter.
Easter Sunday
A Holy Day of Obligation
Sundays are always a day of Holy Obligation.
Commemorates the Paschal Mystery, Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the “Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities”.
Ascension of the Lord
40 days after Easter
A Holy Day of Obligation
All ecclesiastical Provinces, except Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia and the State of Nebraska, have transferred this Solemnity to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Sundays are always a day of Holy Obligation.
Commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven 40 days after his Resurrection from the dead.
Pentecost Sunday
A Holy Day of Obligation
Sundays are always a day of Holy Obligation.
Commemorates the fulfillment of Christ’s Passover in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and the Church. Concludes the Easter Season.
Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
Thursday after Trinity Sunday
A Holy Day of Obligation
Celebrates the reality of the Lord’s abiding presence with us in the gift of the Eucharist and the mystery of the real presence of Christ’s Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine.
Solemnity 0fSaints Peter and Paul
June 29/
Celebrates the lives of the two greatest apostles, whose martyrdom established the preeminence of the Church at Rome.
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 15.
A Holy Day of Obligation
Sundays are always a day of Holy Obligation.
Commemorates the taking into heaven of Mary, soul and body, at the end of her life on earth. A truth of faith that was proclaimed a dogma by Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950.
All Saints
November 1
Not a Holy day of Obligation this year as it falls on a Monday.
This Solemnity celebrates all the saints in heaven, a source of hope and encouragement for the entire Church as she walks by faith, helped by the example of the saints.
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8
A Holy Day of Obligation
Commemorates the fact that Mary, in view of her calling to be the Mother of Christ and in virtue of his merits, was preserved from the first moment of conception from original sin.
The precept to attend Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is maintained, even if the day falls on a Saturday or Monday. Therefore, Monday, December 8, 2003 will be a holy day of Obligation for the faithful in the United States of America.
This Solemnity commemorates the fact that Mary, in view of her calling to be the Mother of Christ and in virtue of his merits, was preserved from the first moment of conception from original sin.
Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
December 25.
A Holy Day of Obligation
Commemorates the birth of Christ.