The feasts of the Church year
The calendar the Church actually lives by — solemnities, feasts, and memorials, each with its date, its meaning, and a few simple ways to keep it at home. Find today’s, see what’s coming, or look up a date.
Today in the Church
The long stretch after Pentecost, when the Church walks the everyday of faith. It carries the year's quiet feasts — the apostles, the great saints of summer, and Mary's late-summer solemnities — up to Christ the King.
Coming up
This season — Ordinary Time
Major feasts & solemnities
The Sacred Heart of JesusMovable · June
The Nativity of the LordDecember 25
Easter SundayMovable · spring
The AscensionMovable · Eastertide
PentecostMovable · spring
Corpus ChristiMovable · June
The Immaculate ConceptionDecember 8
The AssumptionAugust 15
All SaintsNovember 1
Christ the KingMovable · November
The EpiphanyJanuary 6Browse the Church year
Two ways in — the way the calendar actually works: by the season you're in, or by the month you're looking for.
Or see the whole year at a glance — the liturgical calendar, month by month
Holy days of obligation
Beyond every Sunday, a handful of feasts each year ask the faithful to keep Mass and rest from work. Which ones — and which dates — depends on where you live. Choose your country.
Ten days · Universal law
- Jan 1Mary, the Holy Mother of God
- Jan 6The Epiphany of the Lord
- Mar 19St. Joseph
- MovableThe Ascension
- MovableCorpus Christi
- Jun 29Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles
- Aug 15The Assumption of Mary
- Nov 1All Saints
- Dec 8The Immaculate Conception
- Dec 25The Nativity of the Lord
Canon 1246 §1 lists ten holy days. A bishops' conference may, with Rome's approval, suppress some or move them to a Sunday — which is why your country's list is shorter.
When is…?
Easter sets the rhythm — and a dozen feasts move with it each year. Here are this year's dates, worked out.
Feasts to celebrate at home
The ones that come alive around a table — a shoe by the door, a king cake, a name day. Small traditions a child remembers for life.
December 6St. Nicholas
Leave shoes by the door overnight — and find them filled with chocolate coins and oranges by morning.
January 6The Epiphany
Bless the door with chalk, share a king cake, and follow the Magi's star to the manger.
March 19St. Joseph
Set a St. Joseph's table of breads and sweets — the Italian tradition of feeding the hungry in thanks.
November 1All Saints
Dress as a favorite saint, light a candle for each one, and tell their stories after supper.
Sunday after ChristmasThe Holy Family
Bless your own home and one another — the feast that holds up your family as a small, holy thing.
December 8The Immaculate Conception
Wear blue, set out flowers for Our Lady, and begin to ready the home for Christmas.
A feast on the calendar is a date. A feast in the home is a memory.
Knowing the day is the start. The rest is small and doable — a season to follow, a short prayer for the feast, a tradition the children will carry. Here’s where to keep going.