Holy Days of Obligation.
At one time, I assumed that the entire globe had the same Catholic Holy Days of Obligation, but this is not true. No, not at all.
The United States has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- Ascension of the Lord
- Assumption of the Virgin Mary
- All Saints' Day
- Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
- Christmas
In contrast, our immediate neighbor to the north, Canada, has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- Christmas
What the heck? This seems rather light.
Mexico has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- The Body and Blood of Christ
- Christmas
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mexico is, of course, a Catholic country, but it has a history of anti-Catholic revolution, so that may explain it. We share two of its four, one of which we also share with Canada.
I think frankly Canada should receive a couple of more. Canada had its only sort of civil anti-Catholic revolution, quietly, which has made Quebec a mess, and perhaps an added Holy Day might be in order.
Having said that, Australia and New Zealand, which like Canada has a strong English history, also has only two. The United Kingdom, however, has more than that.
Likewise, which devolved a strong Lutheran influence after at first having a very lukewarm one (Scandinavians have forgotten that the Reformation wasn't really that keenly received there at first, and then foisted upon them by a Swedish King who probably didn't believe at all), has only two.
But them, Sweden has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- Epiphany
- Feast of the Ascension
- Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- All Saints' Day
- Christmas
That's more than the U.S. And Qatar has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- Thomas the Apostle
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Birth of our Lady
- Christmas
And even Saudi Arabia has the following:
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Christmas
Serbia has only two, but it's mostly Orthodox. So is Ukraine, but it has the following:
- Epiphany
- Presentation of the Lord
- Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary
- Feast of the Ascension
- Transfiguration of the Lord
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Exaltation of the Holy Cross
- Presentation of Mary
- Christmas
Ukraine, however, has a strong Eastern Rite Catholic tradition in its west, minority population though it is. Its Catholic population persevered through Communism, even though its adherents were compelled to attend Orthodox services, which they did, before going to secret Catholic ones later.
Venezuela, in contrast, has a Catholic heritage, but like Canada, has only two Holy Days of Obligation.
The total possible Holy Days of Obligation are, currently:
Placed in the order of the liturgical calendar, the ten days (apart from Sundays) that this canon mentions are:
- 8 December: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 25 December: Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
- 1 January: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
- 6 January: Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
- 19 March: Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Thursday of the sixth week of Eastertide: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
- Thursday after Trinity Sunday: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Feast of Corpus Christi)
- 29 June: Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
- 15 August: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 1 November: Solemnity of All Saints
That's ten.
Prior to 1911, the total possible was thirty-six. Then, as now, Bishops could reduce the number. Today, only Vatican City and the Swiss Diocese of Lugano observe all ten, although some Dioceses have added Holy Days not on it, such as Ireland, which as St. Patrick's Day, and Germany and Hungary which have Saint Stephen's Day on 26 December, Easter Monday, and Pentecost Monday.
Now the country has fewer than two.
And two seems too few to me.
The Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church, I'd note, has the following:
- The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
- The Epiphany
- The Ascension
- The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
- The Dormition of Holy Mary, the Mother of God
Note, however, the situation in Ukraine. The Orthodox have a duty of worship on the following days, although what that means is not clear to me:
- The Nativity of Our Lord, December 25
- The Circumcision of Christ, January 1
- Ascension Day, 40 Days after Pascha (Easter)
- The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15
- All Saints Day, November 1
- The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8
In noting all of this, I feel a little bad and whiny about Holy Days, as I've often felt it a burden to get to Mass on them. But, in my defense, I've often not grasped why no noon Mass was offered for them in my Tri Parish locality. All in all, looking at it, I think we should add a couple to that six, and that the other country of which I am a citizen, ought to double the number of theirs.
Yes, it's a bit of a burden, and yes you stand out. But perhaps that's part of it.
