Catholic Holy Days of Obligation Reminders

1. Get Free Newsletters To Remember The Holy Days of Obligation

Sign up to receive monthly Catholic Holy Days Of Obligation and feast day reminders.

Quick links to sections on this page:

1. Monthly Holy Day Reminder
2. List of Catholic Holy Days around the world.
3. List of Holy Days in the USA.
4. Holy Day coloring pages.
5. List of major Catholic feast days.
6. Feast day reminders.
7. Learn about the Catholic Holy Days in catechism class.
8. More feast days.

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2. Catholic Holy Days Of Obligation Chart

2.A. Holy Days In The USA

The  following Catholic Holy Days of Obligation chart shows the dates for the Universal Church and for the various countries around the world.

1. There are six Catholic Holy Days of Obligation in the United States. See the Holy Day chart below. 
2. Sign up for our near monthly Holy Day Reminder newsletter ezine in the left column or on the form above.
3. Holy Days of Obligation coloring pages.

2.B. The Actual Obligation

The obligations attached to the days have changed in many places which makes people think that some are no longer of obligation.

In some dioceses and congregations the obligation is simply transferred to the next Sunday.

• Confirmation class is an important time to learn the holy days.
• For one thing, if one is to be an adult in the service of God, one must know his obligations amongst which are the days to keep holy as with a Sunday.
• If Confirmation is not until later than third to seventh grade it is good to teach the holy days when you're teaching the Third Commandment.

2.C. Remembering Catholic Holy Days of Obligation With A Chart

All Sundays are holy days of obligation.

Because Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and Mary on Pentecost Sunday, the Catholic Church has designated Sunday as the Lord's Day, not Saturday which is known in the Bible as the Sabbath. 

There are other very important feasts in the year that count as the Lord's Day and have the same obligations.

Since there are some that do not fall on Sunday, we memorize those dates so as to be able to remember them through the year.

Check your Local Ordo for what is required in your country on the Holy Days in these lists. There is a short list of the six days required in the United States below this universal chart.

2.D. Holy Day Chart

3. List of Catholic Holy Days of Obligation in the United States

Baltimore Catechism question:

What Are The Catholic Holy Days Of Obligation?

1. Christmas Day, December 25.
2. Circumcision, January 1.
3. Ascension Thursday, 40 Days after Easter.
4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15.
5. The Immaculate Conception, December 8.
6. All Saints Day, November 1.

They are easy to remember when you think there are:

• 3 Holy Days for Jesus,
• 2 for Mary, and
• 1 for all the other saints.

4. Catholic Holy Days Of Obligation Coloring Pages

Use these links to jump down to the different holy days of obligation:

4.A. Circumcision Coloring Pages - January 1

At the moment, I do not have a coloring page for this, yet the Presentation is the next month, February 2.

4.B. Ascension Holy Day Coloring Page - 40 Days After Easter

4.C. Assumption Holy Day Coloring Pages - August 15

Stained Glass Assumption Day Coloring Page

Stained Glass Assumption of Mary Coloring Page

4.D. All Saints' Day Holy Day Coloring Pages

Feast Of All Saints, November 1

All Saints Day is when we celebrate all those saints for whom there is no official date in the calendar.

Since there are millions of known and unknown saints, there would be no way to be able to put them all in the Catholic Calendar.

Print several of these for your All Saints costume party.

PDF All Saints Coloring Page

Digital Angels And Saints In Adoration At The Altar For Benediction

The Blessed Trinity, Angels And Saints Printable Coloring Page

• More printable Saints coloring pages.
• Advent coloring sheets.

Feast Of All Souls, November 2

Remember that from November 1-8 you can gain extra indulgences for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

On November 2 priests can offer Mass three times and you can assist at all three if your parish or chapel arranges them this way.

Note: Newly in 2020, the Vatican has extended the time we can gain indulgences for the Holy Souls. See the details at this Crux article.

4.E. Immaculate Conception Holy Day Coloring Pages

Immaculate Conception Coloring Page

Stained Glass Imacculata Coloring Page

Church Stained Glass Immaculate Conception Coloring Page

4.F. Christmas Day Coloring Pages - December 25

Printable Religious Nativity Coloring Page

Darling Baby Jesus Coloring Page

Stained Glass Nativity Coloring Page

• Many more printable Christmas coloring pages.
• Printable religious Christmas cards.

5. More Catholic Feast Days And Coloring Pages

There are other holy days that are important, too. They are not obligatory, but they do mark important days in the calendar.

There are many Catholic Feast Days that are simply the feasts of saints and do not directly affect the Liturgical calendar, but we celebrate them in honor their virtues in imitation of Jesus and Mary like: St. Patrick, St. Joseph, St. Andrew, and St. Anthony. Some of these are remembered in the Rosary (see Rosary coloring pages here).

The Catholic holy days of obligation have an asterisk:

Feast of the Circumcision* - January 1

Feast of the Epiphany - January 6

Ash Wednesday - The beginning of Lent

Lent Activities - Coloring pages, printable Stations booklet, Crown of Thorns

Palm Sunday - The beginning of Holy Week

Holy Thursday - The Last Supper

Good Friday - The Crucifixion of Jesus

Holy Saturday - Jesus remains buried.

Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of Jesus

Ascension Thursday* - Jesus ascends into Heaven, 40 days after Easter

Pentecost Sunday - Holy Ghost descends upon the Apostles and Mary

Trinity Sunday - The end of the Easter season celebrates the Trinity

Corpus Christi - Celebrates Jesus in the Eucharist

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary* August 8

All Saints Day* - November 1

Advent - Fourth Sunday before Christmas.

Immaculate Conception* December 8

Christmas Day* December 25 - Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ

6. Holy Day Reminder And Feast Day Notices

6.1. Monthly Holy Days of Obligation Reminders

Since some of these dates are movable feasts so we post these dates on our home page and send an email reminder about once monthly.

The Ascension is a movable feast. Do you need a Holy Day Reminder? Fill the form at the top of this page. Invite your family and friends to do the same.

6.2. First Friday And Saturday Reminders

Our free monthly reminder of the Catholic holy days of obligation also mentions the dates for the nine First Fridays and the five First Saturdays. Sometimes it's tricky when the First Saturday comes before the First Friday, so it's good to have a reminder.

6.3. Feast Day Reminders

We also mention other major Catholic feast days and seasonal highlights of the Catholic liturgical calendar. Simply enter your regular email address in the white box on most of our web pages or sign up for our Holy Day Reminder at the top of this page.

Remember to check your local Ordo for what is required on the Holy Days in your area.

6.4. Holy Day, First Friday/Saturday, And Feast Day Reminders (Same Form As Above)

7. Learn the Catholic Holy Days Of Obligation

The Confirmation catechism is when we learn about the holy days and memorize the list. We are usually required to memorize these, especially for Confirmation, so that we do not forget them throughout the years.

The St. Anne's Helper Catholic Confirmation catechism has an

• Audio Baltimore Catechism, 
• Confirmation worksheets, and an
• Ebook of the Confirmation questions 

that helps you or your children memorize the holy days easily.

You can find an explanation of most of the holy days, especially Christmas, the Circumcision, and the Ascension of Jesus.

St. Anne's Audio Confirmation Catechism teaches the Catholic Holy Days of Obligation in the USA. 

St. Anne's Confirmation Catechism Copybooks also reinforce learning the answers. They use the copybook method to help your children improve memorization, penmanship, reading and spelling! Practice for the quiz!

The Roman Catholic calendar names the Catholic Holy Days of Obligation as well as the Catholic saints names to use for Baptism or Confirmation. It frequently has a separate list of patron saints, as well.

Knowing the specific patron saint is handy for special dedications or gifts. The Catholic Encyclopedia or Butler's Lives of the Saints (not Attwater's rewrite) are great resources, too.

The Catholic Missal prayers, readings, and thoughts for the day are usually placed in the Catholic liturgical calendar according to the anniversary date of each saint's death.

Newly canonized saints can be found on calendars that use the new liturgical year. 

TAN Books has had a Catholic calendar that lists the

• traditional (1962), 
• historical Catholic calendar, and the 
• new calendar which can be handy for comparisons.

8. Other Catholic Holy Days: Not of Obligation

Looking for the dates of more Catholic Feast Days? This is a great list by month according to the 1962 Catholic liturgical calendar that is used with the 1962 Roman Missal.

See the official USCCB list of Catholic Holy Days here.

All for the love of You, my God!