Holy Days From The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Major Feasts and Holy Days of Obligation

Catholics are obliged to attend Mass every Sunday and on those special Holy Days of Obligation. Those listed here are the major Feast Days in the Catholic Church in America, of which some of these feasts have been transferred to Sundays. Not every Feast Day is a Holy Day of Obligation, so look for the designation.

Holy Days of Obligation with Special Seasons and Feasts

		2018		2019
Day	Celebration of	Holy Days of  Obligation	Seasons and  Feasts	Holy Days of  Obligation	Seasons and  Feasts
Sunday	The Resurrection of Our Lord	Sundays		Sundays
Mary,  Mother of God	Our Lady's divine maternity	Monday, January 1 [1]		Tuesday, January 1 [1]
Epiphany	Our Lord's manifestation to the world through the visit of the magi	Sunday, January 7		Sunday, January 6
Baptism of the Lord	Close of the Christmas Season	Monday, January 8		Sunday, January 13
Ash Wednesday+	Beginning of Lent which lasts until the evening Mass of the Lords Supper on Holy Thursday night		February 14		March 6
Passion \ Palm Sunday	The Lord's entrance into Jerusalem and His betrayal. Begins Holy Week.	March 25		April 14
Holy Thursday	Mass of the Lord's Supper		March 29		April 18
Good Friday	The Lord's Passion		March 30		April 19
Holy Saturday	The Great Easter Vigil*		March 31 [2]		April 20 [3]
Easter Sunday	The Lord's Resurrection and Appearance. Begins the 50 Days of Easter	April 1		April 21
Ascension of Christ	The Ascension of Our Lord	Sunday, May 13		Sunday, June 2
Pentecost	The Gift of the Holy Spirit. Closes the Easter Season.	Sunday, May 20		Sunday, June 9
Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)	Our Lord's Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament	Sunday June 3		Sunday, June 23
Assumption	Assumption of Mary Into Heaven	Wednesday, August 15  [1]		Thursday, August 15 [1]
All Saints	Celebration of those God has brought into heaven and how they model Christ to us	Thursday, November 1		Friday, November 1
Christ the King	Final Sunday of Church Year	Sunday, November 25		Sunday, November 24
1st Sunday of Advent	1st Sunday of Church Year and beginning of four-week preparation for Christmas.	Sunday, December 2		Sunday, December 1
Immaculate Conception	Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Patronal Feast of the United States	Saturday, December 8		(transferred from Sunday, December 8) Celebrated Monday, December 9 [4]
Christmas	The Birth of Our Lord	Tuesday, December 25		Wednesday, December 25
Christmas Season	Christmas through Baptism of Our Lord	December 25, 2018 - January 8, 2019		December 25, 2019 - January 12, 2020

 

[1] At their November 1991 meeting, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that whenever January 1, the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God or August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin or November 1, the Feast of All Saints falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the precept to celebrate Mass is dispensed. The Congregation for Bishops confirmed the action on July 4, 1992.

Although the obligation to celebrate Mass when these three holy days fall on a Saturday or Monday is abolished, parishes are to continue to observe these holy days by scheduling one or more Masses at a convenient time so that people who wish to participate are able to do so.

+ Lenten Days of Fast, Abstinence, and Penance

All Fridays of Lent are Days of Abstinence

Abstinence means not eating meat. All persons 14 years and older are bound by the law of abstinence.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are Days of both Fast and Abstinence

Fasting allows one full meal, but a light breakfast and lunch are not forbidden. All adults, 18 up to the beginning of their sixtieth (60) year, are bound by the law of fasting. Pastors and parents are to see to it that children, while not bound to the law of fast and abstinence, are educated and introduced to an authentic sense of penance.

On Fridays, when abstinence is not required by law, acts of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety are suggested. Abstinence from meat is especially recommended but under no obligation by law.

* The Easter Vigil, during the holy night when Christ rose from the dead, ranks as the "mother of all vigils."11 Keeping watch, the Church awaits Christ's resurrection and celebrates it in the sacraments. Accordingly, the entire celebration of this vigil should take place at night, that is, it should either begin after nightfall or end before the dawn of Sunday (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, no. 21).

[2] Easter Vigil 2018 - Easter Vigil should not begin before 8:30 pm CDT  (Nautical Twilight @ 8:32 pm CDT)

[3] Easter Vigil 2019 - Easter Vigil should not begin before 8:30 pm CDT  (Nautical Twilight @ 8:46 pm CDT)
[4] The obligation to attend Mass is abrogated when the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to December 9.