Holy Days of Obligation
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son, or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Exodus 20: 8 - 11
CELEBRATION
A holy day of obligation is a type of solemnity. In the Church, solemnities are special days when there is a deeper opportunity to reflect on a particular mystery of the faith or remember a particular saint. At their core, these holy days are celebrations, not obligations. The Church is inviting the faithful to celebrate!
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 faithful go to Mass on these days to rejoice. The Church invites the faithful to Mass on these holy days to recall that there is a reason to rejoice - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." (John 3: 16.) From this perspective, holy days of obligation are a gift. The faithful take a step back from preoccupations to remember what is true, good, and beautiful. And it is a day of obligation so the celebration at the Mass extends to the whole day.
OBSERVANCE
The observance of Holy Days of Obligation is part of the Sunday Duty, the first of the Precepts of the Church.
The five precepts of the Catholic Church are:
- Attend Mass on Sundays and days of obligation.
- Confess your sins at least once a year.
- Receive the Eucharist at least once a year.
- Observe days of fasting and abstinence.
- Provide for the needs of the Church.
CODE OF CANON LAW
The Code of Canon Law spells out when the holy days of obligation are on the Church’s universal calendar:
Can. 1246 §1. Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation. The following days must also be observed:
- the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- the Epiphany,
- the Ascension,
- the Body and Blood of Christ,
- Holy Mary the Mother of God,
- her Immaculate Conception,
- her Assumption,
- Saint Joseph,
- Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles,
- and All Saints.
Can. 1246 §2. With the prior approval of the Apostolic See, however, the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.
Thus different countries celebrate different holy days of obligation (apart from Sunday, which all countries celebrate).
HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION IN CANADA
Canada has two holy days of obligation: Christmas and Mary, Mother of God.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has decreed that the Holy Days of obligation to be observed in Canada in conformity with canon 1246 §2 of the Code of Canon Law, are as follows:
- January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; and
- December 25, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The feasts of the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) are transferred to the following Sunday.