Holy Days of Obligation 2018 In the Dioceses of the US

December 29, 2017 by Be Holy

In the Dioceses of the United States, the following feasts are considered holy days of obligation:

In November 1991, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a motion that whenever January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated. This action was confirmed by the Holy See on July 4, 1992.

Additionally, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is considered a holy day of obligation in the Dioceses of the United States. However, with the permission of the Holy See, each ecclesiastical Province was given permission to move the observance of this feast to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This is the practice in the Province of Florida (the seven dioceses in the State of Florida).

In 2018 the following Holy Days of Obligation will be observed:

Wednesday, August 15 – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Thursday, November 1 – Solemnity of All Saints
Saturday, December 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Tuesday, December 25 – The Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Christmas)

[P.N. – In 2018, Saturday, December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception occurs on a Saturday. In accord with the 1991 decision of the USCCB, this day is kept as a holy day of obligation, binding the faithful to attend Mass. Masses for this feast may be celebrated after 4:00 p.m. on December 7 and up to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 8.

FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS

December 28, 2017 by Be Holy

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

O, my Savior, Jesus, Emmanuel,
With Your Birth,
The Father shed His Grace and Glory,
Upon the Earth.

Angels lit the sky,
And Heaven sang it’s welcome,
And a lullaby.

You slumbered at the Virgin’s breast,
While Death and Darkness,
Heard the death knell of its reign,
Rousing Herod to dread the same.

Striking with tooth and claw,
The Beast profane
Dispatched His might,
And slew all male babes of Bethlehem,
While Rachel mourned,
Crying, in the Night.

At Abraham’s Bosom,
The Holy Innocents rested
With the Just,
While the Son of God and Man,
Grew, as did a tree,
That would on the Day,
Become a Cross,
And, with the glory of our Savior’s dying,
Serve, and bear,
All our sins away.

Saint John Dec 27 Feast Day

December 27, 2017 by Be Holy

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

Feast

St. John was a fisherman with his father, Zebedee, and brother, James, at the Sea of Galilee. To the brothers, Jesus bestowed the title “sons of thunder.” This beloved disciple participated in many of Jesus’ more private events including the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and the tender bestowing of his Mother Mary to St. John at the foot of the cross. He is credited with writing the Fourth Gospel.

St. John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” was the only one of the apostles to die not of martyrdom but of old age, around the year 100. Still, he has been honored as a martyr from the earliest days after his death, because of an incident related by Tertullian, in which John, while in Rome, was placed in a pot of boiling oil but emerged unharmed. The love which Jesus bears is never barren. Of this his sufferings and death are the strongest proof. As St. John had the happiness to be distinguished by Christ in his holy love, so was he also in its glorious effects.

Via divineoffice.org