Catholic Feast Days Calendar
From Advent to Christ the King — complete guides to the most important dates on the Catholic liturgical calendar. Meaning, Mass, Holy Days of Obligation in the USA, and how to celebrate.
Holy Days of Obligation (United States)
Advent
Advent Begins
First Sunday of Advent (moveable, late Nov–early Dec)
First Sunday of Advent — Start of the Church Year & Season of Hope. Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year in the Roman Rite, not January 1.
Advent Wreath
Used throughout Advent (four Sundays before Christmas)
Advent Wreath — Circle of Light Through the Longest Nights. The circular wreath symbolizes God's eternity and the unending nature of his love.
Gaudete Sunday
Third Sunday of Advent (moveable)
Gaudete Sunday — Rejoice—Christmas Is Near. Gaudete means 'Rejoice' in Latin, taken from the entrance antiphon of the Mass.
Immaculate Conception
December 8 (fixed)
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception — Mary Conceived Without Original Sin. Defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854 in the bull Ineffabilis Deus.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12 (fixed)
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe — Empress of the Americas & Star of the New Evangelization. Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico...
Christmas
Christmas
December 25 (fixed)
Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) — God Becomes Man in Bethlehem. Christmas celebrates the Incarnation—the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ.
Midnight Mass
Night of December 24–25
Christmas Midnight Mass — When Angels Broke the Silence of Night. Midnight Mass tradition links to the belief that Christ was born at the darkest hour,...
Holy Family
Sunday within the Octave of Christmas (moveable)
Feast of the Holy Family — Jesus, Mary & Joseph—Model for Every Home. Instituted for the universal Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1893, originally on...
Mary, Mother of God
January 1 (fixed)
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God — Theotokos—God-Bearer at the Year's Threshold. Title Theotokos (God-bearer) was defined at the Council of Ephesus in...
Epiphany
January 6 (fixed; observed on Sunday in U.S.)
Epiphany of the Lord — Kings from the East Reveal Christ to the Nations. Epiphany means 'manifestation'—Christ revealed to the Magi as Savior of all peoples.
Chalk Blessing
Epiphany season (around January 6 or transferred Sunday)
Epiphany Chalk Blessing — Mark Your Home with the Magi's Blessing. The letters C+M+B stand for Christus mansionem benedicat ('May Christ bless this...
Baptism of the Lord
Sunday after Epiphany (moveable)
Baptism of the Lord — The Father's Voice over the Jordan. Concludes the Christmas season in the current Roman calendar, replacing the older Octave ending.
Ordinary Time
Candlemas
February 2 (fixed)
Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas) — Light for Revelation to the Gentiles. Marks 40 days after Christmas, when Mary completed ritual purification and...
St. Joseph
March 19 (fixed)
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Patron of the Universal Church & Workers. Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph Patron of the...
Annunciation
March 25 (fixed)
Solemnity of the Annunciation — The Word Takes Flesh at Mary's Yes. March 25 was anciently believed to be both the date of the Annunciation and the Crucifixion.
Trinity Sunday
Sunday after Pentecost (moveable)
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity — One God in Three Persons—Faith's Central Mystery. Instituted by Pope John XXII in 1334, originally as a local...
Corpus Christi
Thursday after Trinity Sunday (observed Sunday in U.S.)
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ — Procession of the Real Presence Through the Streets. Instituted by Pope Urban IV in 1264 after...
Eucharistic Procession
Corpus Christi solemnity (moveable)
Corpus Christi Procession — Christ Walks Among His People in the Host. Eucharistic processions became widespread after the feast's institution in the...
Sacred Heart
Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost (moveable)
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus — Burning Love That Pierced the Cross. Devotion promoted after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions in...
First Friday
First Friday of each month (year-round devotion)
First Friday Devotion — Nine First Fridays for the Love of Christ. St. Margaret Mary promoted Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays in reparation.
Immaculate Heart
Saturday after Sacred Heart solemnity (moveable)
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — Mary's Heart Pierced with Sorrow and Love. Paired with Sacred Heart since 1944 when Pius XII moved it to the...
St. John the Baptist
June 24 (fixed)
Nativity of St. John the Baptist — Voice in the Wilderness—Six Months Before Christ. One of only three birthdays celebrated in the liturgical calendar...
Peter & Paul
June 29 (fixed)
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul — Pillars of the Church—Rome's Patron Saints. Commemorates the martyrdom of both apostles in Rome under Nero,...
Transfiguration
August 6 (fixed)
Feast of the Transfiguration — Glory Revealed on Mount Tabor. Commemorates Christ's radiant transformation before Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17).
Assumption
August 15 (fixed)
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Mary Taken Body and Soul into Heaven. Defined as dogma by Pope Pius XII in Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950.
Queenship of Mary
August 22 (fixed)
Memorial of the Queenship of Mary — Coronation of the Mother of the King. Instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1954, eight days after the Assumption (octave...
Mary's Birthday
September 8 (fixed)
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Nine Months After Immaculate Conception. One of the oldest Marian feasts, observed in Jerusalem by the 6th century.
Holy Cross
September 14 (fixed)
Exaltation of the Holy Cross — Victory Banner Raised on Calvary. Commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by St. Helena in Jerusalem (c. 326).
Archangels
September 29 (fixed)
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael — Heaven's Messengers Who Stand Before God. Michael ('Who is like God?') defeats Satan in Revelation 12...
Guardian Angels
October 2 (fixed)
Memorial of the Guardian Angels — Personal Protectors Assigned by God. Jesus said angels always behold the face of the Father (Matthew 18:10), basis...
All Saints
November 1 (fixed)
All Saints' Day — Communion of Saints in Heaven & on Earth. Honors all saints in heaven—known and unknown—not just canonized figures.
All Souls
November 2 (fixed)
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed — Praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. St. Odilo of Cluny established a day of prayer for the dead in...
All Souls Indulgences
November 2 and the week of All Souls (Nov 1–8)
All Souls Indulgences — The Church's Treasury Applied to the Dead. A plenary indulgence for the dead is available Nov 1–8 by visiting a cemetery and...
Lateran Basilica
November 9 (fixed)
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica — Mother Church of Rome & All Christendom. San Giovanni in Laterano is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome—the Pope's church.
Christ the King
Last Sunday before Advent (moveable)
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe — Crown of the Year—Christ Reigns Over All. Instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in Quas primas...
Lent
Ash Wednesday
46 days before Easter (moveable, Feb–Mar)
Ash Wednesday — Remember You Are Dust—Lent Begins. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving before Easter.
Lent
Ash Wednesday through Holy Thursday (moveable)
Season of Lent — Forty Days with the Lord in the Desert. Lent mirrors Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness before his public ministry.
Lent Fasting
Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent
Lent Fasting & Abstinence — The Church's Penitential Discipline in the U.S.. U.S. bishops require abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays...
Laetare Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Lent (moveable)
Laetare Sunday — Rejoice—Easter Is Halfway in Sight. Laetare ('Rejoice') comes from the entrance antiphon Isaiah 66:10–11, a glimpse of joy mid-Lent.
Holy Week
Palm Sunday
Sunday before Easter (moveable)
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord — Hosanna Today, Crucify Him Friday. Commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and opens Holy Week.
Holy Week
Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday (moveable)
Holy Week — The Church Walks with Christ to Calvary. Holy Week is the most sacred week of the Christian year, recounting the final days of Jesus' earthly life.
Blessed Palms
Palm Sunday (moveable)
Blessing of Palms — Branches That Will Become Next Year's Ashes. Palms symbolize victory and royalty, echoing the crowd's welcome of Jesus as king.
Chrism Mass
Holy Week, often Tuesday or Wednesday (moveable)
Chrism Mass — Bishop, Priests & Oils for the Year's Sacraments. The bishop blesses the Oil of Catechumens, Oil of the Sick, and consecrates Sacred Chrism.
Holy Thursday
Thursday before Easter (moveable)
Mass of the Lord's Supper (Holy Thursday) — Institution of the Eucharist & Priesthood. Commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus gave his Body and Blood...
Good Friday
Friday before Easter (moveable)
Good Friday of the Lord's Passion — The Hour When Christ Loved to the End. Good Friday is the only day of the year when Mass is not celebrated anywhere...
Cross Veneration
Good Friday liturgy (moveable)
Veneration of the Cross — Behold the Wood of the Cross. The cross is unveiled in three stages with the chant Ecce lignum Crucis ('Behold the wood of...
Easter Triduum
Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday (moveable)
Easter Triduum — One Liturgy, Three Days, One Mystery. The Triduum (three days) is a single liturgical celebration, not three separate events.
Easter
Easter Vigil
Holy Saturday night (moveable)
Holy Saturday & Easter Vigil — Night of Fire, Baptism & Alleluia Restored. Holy Saturday is a day of stark emptiness—Christ lies in the tomb and the...
Vigil Readings
Easter Vigil (moveable)
Easter Vigil Readings — Salvation History in Nine Readings. The Vigil requires a minimum of three Old Testament readings; the Roman Missal provides...
Easter Sunday
First Sunday after the first full moon on/after March 21
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection — Christ Is Risen—Death Has No Dominion. Easter is the feast of feasts, celebrating Jesus' victory over sin and death.
Easter Octave
Easter Sunday through Divine Mercy Sunday (8 days)
Octave of Easter — Eight Days of Unbroken Easter Joy. Each day of the Octave ranks as a solemnity, as if Easter Sunday were repeated.
Divine Mercy Sunday
Second Sunday of Easter (moveable)
Divine Mercy Sunday — Fountain of Mercy Opened on the Octave Day. Instituted by St. John Paul II on April 30, 2000, during St. Faustina Kowalska's canonization.
Ascension
40th day after Easter (Thursday; observed Sunday in most U.S. dioceses)
Ascension of the Lord — Christ Returns to the Father—Mission Begins. Commemorates Jesus' ascent into heaven 40 days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).
Pentecost
50th day after Easter (moveable)
Pentecost Sunday — The Spirit Descends—Birthday of the Church. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, birthing the Church.
Pentecost Novena
Nine days before Pentecost (Ascension to Pentecost Eve)
Novena to the Holy Spirit — Nine Days of Prayer with Mary in the Upper Room. The apostles and Mary prayed for nine days between Ascension and Pentecost...
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