Is tomorrow a holy day of obligation? It depends on where you live

Tina Dennelly   By Tina Dennelly for CNA

May 17, 2023 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 1 Print

 

The Ascension of Jesus Christ. Giotto di Bondone, 1305. public domain. / null

CNA Newsroom, May 17, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Tomorrow is Ascension Thursday, the day the Church marks 40 days since Jesus’ resurrection and the day he ascended into heaven (see Acts 1:1–11). But depending on where you live, you may or may not be obligated to attend Mass on that day.

If you live in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, and Philadelphia, tomorrow is a holy day of obligation for you. That means if you live in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Nebraska, or Pennsylvania, you have to go to Mass!

If you live in the rest of the country, the celebration of the solemnity of the Ascension is moved to the Seventh Sunday of Easter — which this year is Sunday, May 21.

Why the different days of celebration?

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now called the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) stated in a 1991 decree that in addition to Sundays, there are several days to be observed as holy days of obligation: Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; the Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the Ascension; Aug. 15, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day; Dec. 8, the Immaculate Conception; and Dec. 25, the Nativity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

However, in subsequent action in 1999, the bishops’ conference “in accord with the provisions of canon 1246, §2 of the Code of Canon Law, which states: ‘… the conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with prior approval of the Apostolic See,’” allowed each ecclesiastical province in the United States to determine whether to move celebration of the Ascension to the Sunday following the Sixth Week of Easter.

Most provinces decided to move the celebration to Sunday; those mentioned earlier, which are mostly in the Northeast, retained the Thursday celebration. Some moved the date in later years, such as the ecclesiastical province of Baltimore, for example, which decided to change the date in 2002. And the province of Newark decided just last year to move the celebration to Sunday.

The decision often sparks some humor on social media around this time of year:

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

About Catholic News Agency 12595 Articles
Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

Related Articles

No Picture
News Briefs

Pro-life student assaulted outside Planned Parenthood

December 4, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Roanoke, Va., Dec 4, 2017 / 01:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A 15-year-old student was taken to the hospital after a woman punched her in the face outside of a Planned Parenthood in Roanoke, Virginia on Saturday morning.

The student, Purity Thomas, is a high school leader with Students for Life of America and was “peacefully sidewalk counseling” with a small group of other leaders outside of Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning when a woman sparked the altercation, the group said in a statement.

During sidewalk counseling, Students for Life leaders offer women support, encouragement and resources for pregnancy care instead of abortion.

On Saturday, the students had congregated in a grassy area outside of the abortion clinic where volunteers typically meet. Because that Planned Parenthood location performs abortions on Saturday, pro-life leaders usually offer counseling, prayer and peaceful protest outside of that location on a weekly basis.

The group of student leaders were standing away from the entrance of the Planned Parenthood when a woman reportedly threatened the group and said she would beat them up and “[expletive] them up,” the group said.

The woman reportedly approached the students and stole a sign that read “All people are made in the image of God.” At this point one of the students began filming, and the woman approached the group a second time, attempting to steal another sign before punching Thomas in the face.

The incident was caught on video.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/TBsJFJd6j3k?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

“This act of violence against a group of peaceful pro-life students who were outside a Planned Parenthood offering love and support to pregnant women serves as a sad reflection on the state of debate today,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said in a statement.

“It’s horrific that a minor expressing love for pregnant women was targeted for violence.”

After the incident, one of the student leaders called the police, and Thomas was taken to the hospital for her injuries. She was examined and released Saturday.

Hawkins added that this ”is not an isolated incident. Across the country we are witnessing a rise in the number of incidents of vandalism and violence against peaceful pro-life speech,” she said. “We pray that the assailant from today’s attack is brought to justice swiftly. But we also pray for the protection of those who volunteer their time to speak for the innocent, preborn infants and their mothers.”

 

[…]

1 Comment

  1. Ri-di-culous….poor Catholics can’t observe a Holy day of obligation?
    So,tell us,mitre’d-s,should we start the Novena on Sunday & …..
    Is it little wonder so many are lukewarm in their faith.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*