[Salvation]

Should the United States have more holy days?

[Salvation]

I found this on another chat site, but the link to Creighton University in Nebraska doesn't work.

http://www.creighton.edu/~alackamp/holydays/answer.html

The 1983 Code of Canon Law identifies Sunday as "the primordial
holy day of obligation" in the universal Church.

In addition to Sunday there are 10 other days of obligation:

1. The Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas)
2. The Epiphany (Jan. 6.)
3. The Ascension (40 days after Easter)
4. The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) not observed in the United States
5. Holy Mary, the Mother of God (octave day of Christmas, Jan. 1)
6. The Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8)
7. The Assumption (Aug. 15)
8. St. Joseph (March 19) not observed in the United States
9. Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29) not observed in the United States
10. All Saints (Nov. 1)
The 1983 Code of Canon Law also states that the conference of Bishops
(usually the bishops of a particular country of a region) can suppress or
transfer the observance of these days, after approval from the Apostolic See (i.e. the Vatican)

Several years ago the National Conference of Catholic Bishops determined that the holy days of Mary, the Mother of God (Jan. 1), the Assumption (Aug. 15) and All Saints (Nov. 1) would not be observed with the obligation of participating in Mass whenever they would be a Saturday or Monday. Whenever these holy days are a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday then they would be observed with the obligation of participation in Mass. This decision was approved by the Vatican.
In the past year the conference of Bishops received approval to transfer the holy days of Ascension Thursday to Sunday. The bishops of each province had to agree to this transfer before it was permissible. In Nebraska, which is the Metropolitan Province of Omaha or the the dioceses of Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, the bishops determined that Ascension Thursday should be observed on the 40th day after Easter rather than moving it to a Sunday.

[Heartofsong83]

YES!!! Absolutely.

[kstewskis]

Should the United States have more holy days?

Absolutely!

The U.S. Church needs to stop watering down the importance of these days, and making it's own rules up in these Feasts of Our Lord....and get with the rest of The Church.

*In* my own humble opinion, of course. :o)

[Flavius Josephus]

So I've got some time before the next one. Great. :)

Seriesly, I think I need a revival about every 90 days, and it seems like the HDOs are spread out just perfectly to provide that... though I don't know that Catholics take advantage of the opportunity presented.

Also, I've always wondered why people don't eat a feast on a feast day.

[Dajjal]

The Feast of the Annunciation used to be a universally honored Holy Day of Obligation in both the Eastern and Western Churches from the early Middle Ages until the 1800s, when first France and then the United States opted out.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01542a.htm
This feast was always a holy day of obligation in the Universal Church. As such it was abrogated first for France and the French dependencies, 9 April, 1802; and for the United States, by the Third Council of Baltimore, in 1884.

Exactly nine months before Christmas, it also makes a strong pro-life statement.

The Greek Church in the Trullan Synod even suspended Lenten fasting in order to celebrate March 25th. I would be in favor of that, too.