It was a Saturday in December. I was eagerly anticipating Christmas shopping and preparing for “the most wonderful time of the year,” when a friend called and asked, “Do you want to join me for Mass?” Caught off guard, my first thought was to explain my busy day. When I realized it was a Holy Day of Obligation, I felt annoyed by the inconvenience.
Reluctantly, I adjusted my plans, attended Mass, and fulfilled my obligation, but my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t understand the Marian Solemnity or the purpose of Holy Days of Obligation. Growing up in the 1980s, I was poorly catechized. I loved being Catholic, but I wasn’t formed in my faith. Thankfully, a deeper conversion came in my twenties, and now I treasure my faith as an inherited heritage and a place of belonging in God’s family.
On this beautiful Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, I want to reflect on both the feast and the gift of Holy Days of Obligation. These holy days are not random obligations but meaningful traditions intended for our own spiritual benefit.
What is the Immaculate Conception?
Each year on December 8, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Contrary to popular confusion, it does not refer to Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit but to Mary’s—when she was conceived without Original Sin in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne.
By a special grace from God, and in light of her future role as the Mother of Jesus, Mary was preserved from the stain of sin from the first moment of her existence. This was not something she earned but a gift God freely gave to her—made possible by the future merits of her Son and Savior’s death and Resurrection.
In 1854, Pope Pius IX formally defined this teaching as dogma in Ineffabilis Deus. Four years after this dogmatic declaration, the Blessed Mother confirmed it by calling herself the Immaculate Conception when she appeared to a young girl named Bernadette in Lourdes, France.
Still, belief in Mary’s purity goes back even further, all the way to biblical times.
A Brief History of Devotion
Luke 1:28 offers the Biblical foundation for the Immaculate Conception. “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!”
“‘Full of grace’—in the original Greek, kecharitoméne—is Mary's most beautiful name, the name God himself gave to her to indicate that she has always been and will always be the beloved, the elect, the one chosen to welcome the most precious gift, Jesus” (source).
By the seventh century, Eastern Christians celebrated a feast called the Conception of Saint Anne, honoring Mary’s conception. In the West, celebration of the Immaculate Conception was widespread by the eleventh century.
As devotion to the Immaculate Conception grew, so did theological debates. How could Mary be free from original sin and still need a Savior?
In the thirteenth century, Blessed John Duns Scotus, a Franciscan theologian, argued that Mary was saved by Christ in a preemptive way—preserving her from sin before it ever touched her. In 1476, Pope Sixtus IV approved the feast for universal observance.
In 1846, the U.S. bishops declared Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, the patroness of the United States, which has made the solemnity especially significant for American Catholics.
What are Holy Days of Obligation?
Holy Days of Obligation are special days in the liturgical calendar when Catholics are required to attend Mass. Like Sundays, they offer a sacred pause in the rhythm of daily life to remind us of what matters most.
These feasts commemorate key events in the life of Jesus, Mary, or the Saints, and they connect us to the mysteries of faith, drawing us deeper into the liturgical life of the Church.
Under the Code of Canon Law, there are ten universal Holy Days of Obligation:
- Mary, Mother of God // January 1
- Epiphany // January 6
- Saint Joseph // March 19
- Ascension // Forty days after Easter
- Corpus Christi // Thursday after Trinity Sunday
- Saints Peter and Paul // June 29
- Assumption of Mary // August 15
- All Saints // November 1
- Immaculate Conception // December 8
- Christmas // December 25
Adaptations Since Vatican II
While the Second Vatican Council did not eliminate any Holy Days of Obligation, it allowed bishops’ conferences to adapt the calendar to fit local pastoral needs.
In the United States, Catholics currently observe six Holy Days of Obligation:
- Mary, Mother of God
- Ascension of the Lord (Thursday or Sunday, depending on the diocese)
- Assumption of Mary
- All Saints
- Immaculate Conception
- Christmas
In most dioceses, many of these holy days are transferred to Sunday or lose their obligatory nature when they fall on a Saturday or Monday. But the Immaculate Conception and Christmas remain obligatory regardless—highlighting their central role in our faith.
Why Obligations are a Gift
The word “obligation” can sound burdensome. But in the life of faith, an obligation is an invitation to deeper love—similar to abiding by the Ten Commandments or meeting fasting guidelines on Fridays and during Lent.
Holy Days of Obligation are not random requirements. They are written into the liturgical calendar to strengthen our spiritual life and deepen our Catholic identity.
Even more so, they break us out of the ordinary to remember the extraordinary: God became man, Mary said yes, the Saints intercede for us, and we are part of this divine plan too.
Celebrating the Immaculate Conception
When my children were little, we celebrated feast days with liturgical tea parties. On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we sang Marian hymns, read the Gospel, sipped white hot chocolate to honor Our Lady’s purity, and enjoyed sugar cookies with blue sprinkles to remember her queenship in Heaven.
While I still love a good white hot chocolate on December 8, other prayerful ways to celebrate include:
- Wearing something blue to Mass
- Praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
- Singing a Marian hymn while lighting the Advent wreath
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Making an act of consecration to Jesus through Mary
Resting in the Holy
On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, let’s not simply fulfill an obligation. Let’s honor God’s grace in the life of the Blessed Mother.
On every Holy Day of Obligation, let us pause and ponder the beautiful truths of our faith. May we always respond to the Church’s gentle command to rest in all that is holy as we open our hearts to the wonders God still works in our hearts and in the world.
Sarah Damm is the blog manager and a writer for Blessed Is She. She also is a frequent contributor to other faith-based platforms. Residing in Minnesota with her husband and six children, Sarah was a stay-at-home mom for 21 years, until she returned to the workforce in 2023. Sarah enjoys attending her kids' volleyball, football, basketball, or baseball games (depending on the season). She loves her faith, coffee, walks with her husband, and good books. Read Sarah's posts here. You can find out more about her here.
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