Questions on Holy Day schedules

by Father John Ludwig | December 20, 2024

Q. Why are some Holy Days transferred to Sunday, but others are not? Why not transfer the Assumption, et al. to Sunday. I understand that Christmas can’t be transferred.

A. We don’t know what actual day Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but that feast was placed on a calendar day near the winter solstice (when the days are the shortest in year) and has been celebrated on Dec. 25 since the first centuries of the Church. It is contrasted with the feast of the birth of John the Baptist on a calendar day near the summer solstice (when the days are the longest).  Those feasts are six months apart. In the gospel, John the Baptist said about Jesus, “He must increase while I must decrease.” So the days begin to be longer from the feast of Christmas to the feast of John the Baptist in June. Then the days begin to get slowly shorter until Christmas.

Holy Days differ from country to country. For example, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is a Holy Day in Ireland, but not in other countries. There is reason for transferring the Ascension to the following Sunday, and for transferring the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ to the following Sunday.

In our country, Holy Days are not holidays (as they are in some places). The ordinary Catholic has to go to work on weekdays, and so the feast of the Ascension and the Body and Blood of Christ would “get lost” to those people if it were not on a Sunday – when most people don’t have to go to work.

The liturgical calendar particular to each country understandably makes some choices about dates, days, and seasons.

The Assumption of Mary and the Immaculate Conception are feasts of Mary and are celebrated on a calendar day – Aug. 15 and Dec. 8 respectively.

The Ascension and the Body and Blood of Christ are not celebrated on a calendar day but a number of days after Easter (a feast which changes from year to year, and is ALWAYS on a Sunday). Hence those feasts have also been transferred to Sundays.