This Year's Liturgical Dates

The Holy Days of Obligation are the days (outside of Sundays) on which Catholics gather together to celebrate the mysteries of our faith as a community.  These liturgical celebrations focus on important mysteries of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

The obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation is more than just legal, it is an act of justice and charity.  In justice, we owe our Creator God the thanks and worship He deserves.  In charity, we respond as a community to God's love for us.  In addition, we are responsible as a family of faith in mutually supporting one another and building up the Body of Christ. Gathering together in our parishes and communities on Sundays and holy days of obligation helps us to "encourage one another and build one another up" (1 Thessalonians 5:11), as well as to give the worship due to God, our loving Creator.  If we don't have a weekly opportunity to build up our faith through Word and Sacrament, where else will we go?  At one point, Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you also want to leave?”  As disciples of Jesus, we can reply as Saint Peter did, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6: 68).

Holy Days of Obligation for 2019

• Tuesday, January 1, 2019: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
• Thursday, May 30, 2019: The Ascension of the Lord
• Thursday, August 15, 2019: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Friday, November 1, 2019: Solemnity of All Saints
• Monday, December 9, 2019: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary*
• Wednesday, December 25, 2019: The Nativity of the Lord

*Note: 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 (cancelled). 

Other important liturgical days. Dates for:

• Ash Wednesday: March 6, 2019
• Palm Sunday: April  14, 2019
• Holy Thursday: April 18, 2019
• Good Friday: April 19, 2019
• Easter Sunday: April 21, 2019
• Pentecost Sunday: June 9, 2019
• The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Sunday, June 23, 2019
• The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Friday, June 28, 2019
• First Sunday of Advent: December 1, 2019

Lectionary for Mass Cycles:

• Sunday, December 2, 2018, to Saturday, November 24, 2019
  • Sunday Cycle: Year C
  • Weekday Cycle: Year 1

See the Epiphany Proclamation
Liturgical Calendar for 2019 from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship