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Solemnity of Mary, January 1
Ascension of Christ, 40
days after Easter
Assumption of the Blessed
Mother, August 15
All Saints' Day, November
1
Immaculate Conception
of Mary, December 8
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Solemnity of Mary,
January 1
This feast, closely connected to the feast of Christmas, is
the most important and oldest of the major feasts of Mary. Mary's Divine
Maternity became a universal feast in 1931. Liturgical reform initiated by
Vatican II placed it on January 1 in 1969. Prior to this, this feast celebrated
on January 1 was the circumcision of Jesus
As a conference, the U.S. bishops decided, with Vatican
approval given July 4, 1992, that when the solemnities of Mary, the Mother of
God (January 1), the Assumption (August 15) or All Saints (November 1) fall on
a Saturday or Monday, it is not an obligation to attend Mass for these feasts.
Although the obligation to attend when these
three holy days fall on a Saturday or Monday is abolished,
parishes are to continue to observe these Holy Days by scheduling
one or more Masses at a convenient time so that people who
wish to participate are able to do so.
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Ascension of Christ, 40 days after Easter
This feast is celebrated the fortieth day after Easter
Sunday and commemorates the elevation of Jesus into heaven by his own power in
the presence of his disciples. It is narrated in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and in
the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
In March 2000, the Catholic bishops of the
Wisconsin province transferred the Feast of the Ascension
to the seventh Sunday of Easter, one week before Pentecost
Sunday. The Vatican, at the request of the bishops of the
United States, granted permission for the date change, giving
ecclesiastical provinces in the United States the authority
to make the transfer. Observing the Ascension on the seventh
Sunday of Easter allows for heightened celebration and an
increased opportunity to education people about the meaning
of the feast.
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Assumption of the Blessed Mother, August 15
This is the principal feast of Mary. It has a double
purpose: first, the happy departure of Mary from this life and second, the
assumption of her body into heaven.
Little for certain is known about the day,
year and manner of Mary's death. The dates assigned for it
vary between three and fifteen years after Jesus' Ascension.
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All Saints' Day, November 1
This feast honors all the saints, known and unknown.
This feast was first celebrated on May 13,
610, when Pope Boniface IV proclaimed the day Feast of All
Holy Martyrs in Rome. The intent was to honor all martyrs
who were not included in local records. In 835, Pope Gregory
IV changed the date and name to November 1 and Feast of All
Saints. A fall date allowed people to celebrate with food
from the fall harvest.
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Immaculate Conception of Mary, December 8
The Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is
the belief that God preserved Mary from any inclination to sin, the inheritance
of original sin passed on to all mankind from Adam and Eve.
The feast of the Conception of Mary appeared
in the Roman calendar in 1476. After the dogmatic definition
by Pope Pius IX in 1854, it became the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception.
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Christmas, December 25
This feast, one of the two major feast of
the liturgical year, celebrates the birth of Jesus.
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