![]() However, exceptions can be made by the Holy See in special agreements with the bishops' conferences of various countries. The Code of Canon Law, most recently revised and promulgated in 1983, requires the observance of 10 holy days. Why do we observe six of the 10 prescribed by Church law, and why do other countries observe different feasts? Our American Catholic history tells us why these six holy days of obligation have special significance. Holy days do vary from one country to another. In the United States, we observe six holy days each liturgical year. These days are made solemnities, like a Sunday in terms of festivity and observance, because of their special importance and meaning for the universal and/or local Church. What is a holy day of obligation? A simple answer is that a holy day is an important feast of Our Lord, Our Lady or other saints that Catholics are morally obliged to observe by participating in the celebration of the Eucharist and by abstaining from unnecessary servile work. John Chrysostom and the words of the Acts of the Apostles invite us to do some home-work, and to draw a historical perspective on holy days of obligation, which are really opportunities to celebrate, to renew and to enrich our faith. We might respond to the Bishop of Constantinople in the words of our earliest forebears in the faith: How can I know the meaning or history of the holy days and other feasts "unless someone explains it to me" (Acts 8:31). Today, this challenge persists, and needs to be addressed anew. This Father and Doctor of the Church commented in a homily that "many people celebrate the holy days and know their names: but of their history, meaning and origin they know nothing." John Chrysostom was concerned about the celebration of holy days in Constantinople. But should they not be considered even more as graced times of opportunity to mark a special mystery of our faith? In recent years, holy days have come in for a good deal of discussion, evaluation and renewal.Īs early as the fourth century, St. Holy days are usually regarded in terms of obligation and imposition.
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