Do I have to go to Church today?
Holy Day of Obligation?! That’s like saying someone forced you to eat ice-cream and sprinkles!
There appears to be some confusion over the status of the Feast of the Assumption so I thought I’d do a really quick post and clear things up. If you’re a Roman Rite Catholic in the United States then, yes, today is a Holy Day of Obligation.
Where has all the confusion come from? Well, the U.S. Bishops received permission from the Vatican to abrogate certain Holy Days if the feast in question is on either a Saturday or Monday. The Feast of the Assumption falls into this category, leading to the rather bizarre situation whereby it was not a Holy Day of Obligation in 2009 and 2011, but it was during the intervening years. However, since today is a Thursday (and not either a Saturday or Monday), it’s time to start looking for a lunchtime or evening Mass… 🙂
“If you’re complaining that you HAVE TO go to church today
for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother,
then you need to get your priorities in check, SON!” – Joe Q
Instead of people complaining that they “HAVE TO” go to church today… how wonderful would it be if most people instead praised “YES! I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY” to go to church today…
I hope that one day our generation will fix the cultural mindset of turning Catholic discipline into a laundry list of tasks in which to check off.
We’ll fix the world one meme at a time 🙂
Question for you guys — are Catholic Holy Days of Obligation the same as the 12 Orthodox “Great” Feasts? If not, why? Thank you kindly. 🙂
Nativity of the Theotokos
Elevation of the Precious Cross
Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple
Nativity of Christ
Theophany of our Lord
Meeting of the Lord in the Temple
Annunciation of the Theotokos
Palm Sunday (Sunday before Pascha.)
Ascension (40 Days after Pascha.)
Pentecost (50 Days after Pascha.)
The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Dormition of the Theotokos
It’s a subset. The Holy Days of Obligation vary somewhat based on geographic region. Why? Because God loves glorious variety! 😉
Seriously though, in the history of the Church as a whole there has pretty much always been some variety as to which feasts received particular emphasis, often dependent upon the particular devotion of a region. Additionally, the date of the celebration wasn’t always agreed upon, the most famous of which is the Quartodeciman controversy.
In addition to any days which fall on a Sunday, here are the Holy Days of obligation for Roman Rite Catholics in the USA:
HDO #1: January 1
The solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
HDO #2: Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
The solemnity of the Ascension
HDO #3: August 15
The solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
HDO #4: November 1
The solemnity of All Saints
HDO #5: December 8
The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
HDO #6: December 25
The solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Thanks. Brain is exploding.
Why isn’t Easter on the list?
Because Easter Sunday falls on a Sunday every year 😉 And please, I think you mean “Pascha”. Don’t get into nasty western habits… :-p
For most of the other major feasts of the year the celebration has typically been shifted to the nearest Sunday.
Ah, missed the part of your post that says “In addition to any days which fall on a Sunday…..” I have selective visual skills, apparently!
“Nasty”? come now, son of Rome….
and more specifically, as promulgated by the bishops in the US… http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canon-1246.cfm
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