Solemnity of the Assumption
(HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION)


























Tuesday 15^th August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is one of a small handful of ‘holy days of obligation’, outside of Sundays. Given the low practice rate in Australia it is worthwhile refreshing ourselves on what is meant by a ‘holy day of obligation.’

Firstly, some background. The common sense of the word ‘holiday’ derives historically from those ‘Holy Days’ set aside in the Church’s calendar. In Christian nations these religious feast days were protected by the civil authorities as days of religious observance and therefore no one was permitted to work. This freed up Christians to be able to observe these religious feasts and, specifically, enabled them to be able to take the time to participate in the Church’s liturgical celebrations. Bear in mind that many of the more ancient forms of the liturgy would go for two or three hours, as we see, for example, in the Byzantine Liturgy even to this day. It’s a curious irony that for many the word ‘holiday’ seems to imply being free from any obligation, including those religious obligations binding upon the faithful. As a bare minimum, observing these ‘holy days of obligation’ means (practically speaking) that the Church expects the faithful to attend Mass on these days. Indeed, the perennial teaching of the Church insists that the “obligation” is so grave that to miss even one such day (without due cause) would be a mortal sin.

The Church ranks her feast days according to a hierarchy of importance. First-class feasts, which today are called “Solemnities”, have the highest rank. The Church’s liturgy for these solemnities is the fullest and most embellished as a way of emphasising the importance of the occasion. Below this were second-class feasts (today, simply called “Feasts”), followed by third-class feasts (“Memorials”) and fourth class feasts (“Optional Memorials”). Most Solemnities in the past used to be holy days of obligation. The 1917 Code of Canon Law listed 10 holy days of obligation that were not Sundays. The revised 1983 Code of Canon Law granted to national episcopal conferences the right to adjust which solemnities would be observed as Holy Days of obligation. Rather predictably, one by one, the National Bishops Conferences struck off the list many of the feasts formerly observed as holy days of obligation. The viciously pruned list of the Australian Bishops Conference left only two survivors: Christmas Day and the Assumption of Mary. Almost no other country in the world has such a reductive list of Holy Days of Obligation. As a point of comparison Austria still has nine holy days of obligation: Feast of the Mother of God, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Assumption, Corpus Christi, All Saints, Immaculate Conception and Christmas. 

Every Sunday is automatically a Solemnity (ie. a first class feast) because it is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. The Sunday observance by going to Mass on either the Sunday or the Vigil (i.e. on the Saturday night) fulfils the third precept of the Ten commandments (“keep holy the Lord’s Day”). Contrary to popular opinion it is still the teaching of the Catholic Church that every Catholic is expected to attend Mass on every Sunday. The obvious caveat is for those who are unable to attend due to grave reasons (sickness, care of a dependant, immobility, etc.). It’s extraordinary how few Catholics seem to realise this. They assume that Mass attendance is an optional extra, or that children’s sport exempts one from the obligation. The Book of Exodus does not say “Keep holy the Sabbath…unless your child is playing footy!”

The obligation to attend Mass is not simply a rule in a book; rather it proceeds from the demands of the love of God. We should want to come to Mass on these holy days to give glory and honour to God and His saints.