Rev. Fr. David Okolie
Dearest friends, a number of Catholics who have been hearing about Holy Days of Obligation since childhood may not have been able to know more about such Holy Days.
Now, Holy Days of Obligationย are those Days which are NOT Sundays but are meant to be treated as Sundays because of the *DEEP MYSTERIES that HONOUR the Lord, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, which are celebrated on such Days* (cf. CCC n. 2043, Can. 1247).
๐๐ผ *Thus, as faithful Catholics, we are OBLIGED to always keep Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation HOLY by attending MASS and ABSTAINING/RESTING from such WORK or BUSINESS that would prevent us from Worshipping God, experiencing the Joy associated with the Lord’s Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body (cf. Can. 1247, CCD n. 230, CCC n. 2042). The reason behind the above is for our spiritual and corporal well-being (cf. CCC n. 2041). Thus, refusing to observe them amounts to SIN. Though in the eyes of the modern man that sees everything from the lens of MATERIAL GAINS, it may not be reasonable to talk about Holy Days of Obligation that encourages a break from work/business. However, when we engage in a deep spiritual thought, we would really see the need for such opportunities which enable us to reflect the depths of our faith through which we also gain a lot of GRACES.*
Now, though these Holy Days of Obligation are 10 in number but the Bishops’ Conferences have the authority either to move some of them to Sundays or suppress them (cf. Can. 1246).
Therefore, for *the Catholics in NIGERIA,* we have only 4 Holy Days of Obligation. They are easily remembered with this acronym: *CAAA.* They are:
๐๐ผ1. CHRISTMAS Day (December 25).
๐๐ผ2. ASCENSION Thursday (40 Days after Easter).
๐๐ผ3. ASSUMPTION Day (August 15).
๐๐ผ4. ALL SAINTS Day (November 1).
So, if you are from other countries, kindly approach your parish priest and ask him which are the Holy Days of Obligation approved by the Bishop’ Conference of your country.
Remain blessed๐๐ผ
