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If someone asked you to name the holy days of obligation, do you think you could? Before you begin making your mental list, just a warning: it may be more difficult than you think!As Catholics, we do “keep holy the Sabbath day” by celebrating the Eucharist every Sunday. We also come together for special feast days in the liturgical year, like Christmas and Easter. Still, six days out of the liturgical year we are asked to join as a community of faith to observe important holy days.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law identifies Sunday as “primordial holy day of obligation” in the Universal Church, and Church Law dictates ten holy days of obligation: Christmas; The Epiphany; The Ascension; Corpus Christi; Mary, Mother of God; The Immaculate Conception; The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; St. Joseph; Sts. Peter and Paul; and All Saints. Still, not all countries celebrate the same holy days. To understand why the United States celebrates six out of ten days of obligation, we have to look at American history.
Catholicism began in the United States with immigrants from all over the world. These diverse peoples who entered the country spoke different languages, practiced different customs, and expressed their faith in different ways. The first three countries to bring Catholicism to the U.S. – England, France, and Spain – had a definite impact on the liturgical calendar. The six holy days we now observe are strongly influenced by these three countries.
In 1791, ten holy days of obligation were specified for the United States. By 1839, the number had dropped to eight. Still, most dioceses did not follow the specifications, instead choosing their own holy days. In 1884, the U.S. bishops met and approved a uniform liturgical calendar of six holy days which we still observe today: Mary, Mother of God; The Ascension; The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; All Saints; The Immaculate Conception; and Christmas.
Although not all countries celebrate the same holy days of obligation, this does not lessen their significance. These days are celebrations of the Eucharist, just like the Sunday liturgy, and are special ways to remember the mysteries of our faith.