All Saints 2017 – 1 Nov- Holy Day of Obligation – Deliberately ignore? Grave sin!

In these United States, be sure to check your parish schedules for Masses.

Thursday 1 November 2017 is a Holy Day of OBLIGATION.

For our part, there will be a Missa Cantata at St. Mary’s in Pine Bluff, WI, in the Extraordinary Form.  6:30 PM

Remember that the Church can determine out obligations in this regard.  It is a Commandment of the Church that we are to fulfill our obligation on Sundays and other Holy Days of obligation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains our obligation in the section about the Third Commandment of the Decalogue:

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass.” “The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.”

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

Canon Law

So, do check your schedules.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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13 Comments

  1. Andreas says:

    All Saints (Alle Heiligen) is a national religious holiday celebrated both here in Austria and across the nearby border in Bavaria. Government offices, all schools and businesses will be closed. There will be Holy Mass in the morning and thereafter prayers rendered in the cemetery of each Church. Tonight on All Hallows Eve, we will light candles and place them on each of the graves. No ghosts or goblins wandering the streets here; only solemnity for those saints, living and departed, who have so graced our lives.

  2. Sawyer says:

    Readers might be interested to know that by indult the Diocese of Honolulu only has two Holy Days of Obligation other than Sunday: Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Yes, those are the only two during the whole year.

  3. ajf1984 says:

    This probably goes without saying, but…Readers! Don’t be fooled by the year in the Blog Title! Nov 1, 2018 is also a Holy Day of Obligation… :-)

  4. Gab says:

    In Australia, Sundays and Christmas Day plus the Feast of the Assumption are the only holy days of obligation.

    I’m still going to Mass tonight and tomorrow night.

  5. Interesting about Hawaii and Australia. A number of years ago, the bishops (I think), did a poll of a sampling of the U.S. laity in preparation for a request to reduce the number of Holy Days of Obligation. They found, much to their surprise, that there was no significant lay interest in reducing the number. In fact, the consensus as to create more days of obligation. And, here is the interesting part, the requested new days, in order of popularity, were: Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July. Wish I still had the reference to where I read about this poll.

  6. Greg Hlatky says:

    I’ll be attending, of course, but not at my regular parish. I will have to go to a parish near my house. For me, nothing quite drives “obligation” home like an extremely liberal OF Mass. As opposed to the joy I feel at a EF Mass.

  7. Ellen says:

    I’m singing in the choir at the vigil Mass tonight. We are doing a Litany of the Saints and I can’t wait to sing it.

  8. Dan says:

    ” bishops … did a poll of a sampling of the U.S. laity … to reduce the number of Holy Days of Obligation”

    I read that indeed they were reduced:
    http://www.eyeofthetiber.com/2013/05/08/every-holyday-of-obligation-on-liturgical-calendar-deferred-to-easter/

  9. Pius Admirabilis says:

    @Andreas: Also in NRW and other German states :-) We also had October 31 as a holiday (Buß- und Bettag), but that was abolished some years ago. One or some states have reintroduced that due to the Reformation jubilee of 2017. Catholics are rather unhappy with the abolition of that holiday since that meant an additional free day, especially valuable for priests.

  10. msc says:

    It appears also not to be a day of obligation in Canada.

  11. msc says:

    It appears also not to be a day of obligation in Canada.

  12. MrsMacD says:

    @Andreas what you said was heartwarming. I shared it with friends. I get a little sick of the ‘fun’ stuff that traditional Catholics do or give into because it’s all around us. I really, really love the genuinely prayerful, cool, holy things our people do and used to do to make a given day special. Closer to the Resurrection.

  13. Gab says:

    List of holy days if obligation around the world.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_day_of_obligation#Hungary

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