Word of the Day: Holy Days of Obligation

HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION. Feast days to be observed by attendance at Mass and rest, as far as possible, from unnecessary servile work. The number and dates of these vary among countries. In the United States there are six holy days: Solemnity of Mary on January 1; Ascension of Our Lord, forty days after Easter; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, August 15; All Saints' Day, November 1; Mary's Immaculate Conception, December 8; and Christmas, or the birth of Christ, December 25. On holy days the pastor of every parish is required to offer or have offered a special Mass for his parishioners.

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Of course, every Sunday is also a Holy Day of Obligation, which Father doesn't mention. There are ten Days of Obligation over and above the Sundays, listed in Canon 1246, Paragraph 1 of the Code of Canon Law,  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.

Paragraph 2 of the same Canon gives a country's Bishops certain powers over Holy Days. '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', which is why the US has only six, and Canada only two.

Some countries, however, have additional Holy Days, often the Feast of the country's Patron. E.g., in Ireland, St Patrick's Day is a Day of Obligation. In the US, of course, our Patroness is already in the Canonical list, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.