Holy Days of Obligation
Holy Days of Obligation are much more than those few days throughout the year that the Catholic Church requires you to go to Mass. Excluding Sundays, there are technically eight Holy Days of Obligation observed in the United States. In Hawaii, however, there are only two holy days observed. This is due to the fact that Hawaii has a different conference of bishops than that of the rest of the United States. The two holy days observed by Hawaii are the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Christmas. The eight observed by the other 49 states are:
January 1st: The Feast of Mary, Mother of God
January 6th: Epiphany* (This feast has permanently been moved to the closest Sunday following January 1st, thus it is not commonly placed on the list with the other Holy Days.)
Thursday of the 6th week of Easter: The Ascension
2nd Sunday after Pentecost: The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ* (This feast has been permanently moved to the 2nd second Sunday after Pentecost.)
August 15th: The Feast of the Assumption of Mary
November 1st: The Feast of All Saints
December 8th: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 25th: The Nativity of Our Lord
*Since these two feasts were moved to a Sunday, they are not included in the lists of national Holy Days of Obligation since in every country Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation.
The U.S. is not the only place where the number of holy days varies. There is a different number of holy days observed in just about every country in the world. This is due to a statement made in the Code of Canon Law which says:
“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, the conference of bishops in every country has the ability to enforce as many or as few of the 10 Holy Days of Obligation celebrated in the Vatican. Some countries observe all 10 holy days, whereas others observe as few as two. Hong Kong is the only country to have only one Holy Day of Obligation: Christmas. While 10 may seem like a lot, at one point in the Catholic Church there were 36 Holy Days of Obligation!
Many countries have added a holy day specific to their country. Just as the U.S. added the Immaculate Conception as a holy day since she is its patron, other countries have added to their list of holy days the patron of their country.
For instance, the feast day of St. Rose of Lima is a Holy Day of Obligation in Peru, and the feast of St. Patrick is a Holy Day of Obligation in Ireland. In Germany, besides observing the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Feast of the Ascension, and Christmas, they also observe Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday, and the Feast of St. Stephen as holy days.
Both the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that every Catholic must go to Mass on all Holy Days of Obligation. This is because these days are the highest feasts in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church.
What better way to celebrate the greatest feasts of Mary and of the Church than by celebrating them with the highest form of prayer: the Mass? It is better to look at them not just as obligations, but as opportunities.
On these days, all Catholics come together as the Body of Christ, united together as one. On these days we get to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord, and get to be a witness of the Faith to the whole world.