The most important feast days are called Holy Days of Obligation.
Pattern Days
The three most important feast days in the Catholic Church - in order, top to bottom, are: 1.) Pentecost Sunday - the birthday of the Church. 2.) Easter Sunday - the Resurrection of Our Lord 3.) The Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas
On Good Friday, the most solemn day of the liturgical calendar, there are no other feast days observed.
Easter is the second most important day of the Church year. The most important feast day is Pentecost. Had there been no Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, the Church would never have gotten off the ground. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church. So Easter and Pentecost are both important feast days in the Catholic Church.
Sacred days were called feasts, feast days, or holy days. The term holiday came from holy day.
For a complete list of the feast days of saints click here.
The number of church holidays varied with time and place.There were a number of holidays celebrating events in the life of Jesus or history of the Church, these included the following:ChristmasThe Feast of the Holy InnocentsThe Feast of the CircumcisionTwelfth DayCandlemasShrove TuesdayAsh WednesdayThe Feast of the AnnunciationPalm SundayGood FridayEasterThe Feast of the AscensionPentecostMost of these were important feasts for all Christians, regardless of where they were.There were other feast days, including every Sunday, regardless of whatever else was going on, including Lent, so Sundays in Lent were feast days, and Lenten fasts were not necessarily observed.There were saints' days, which were days designated as feasts for one saint or another. There being far more saints than days to be their feasts, any given day was most probably a feast day for some saint or other. These days were celebrated in places where the saint had some significance, such as being patron saint of the local church, ruling family, local noble family, or local church.
12 days
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Each patron saint has their own special day to be celebrated, known as their feast day. These feast days vary depending on the saint and are usually on the anniversary of their death or another significant event in their life. It's a beautiful way to honor and remember the saint's life and teachings.
The most significant feast day is Pentecost as it is the birthday of the Church. It is followed by Easter and Christmas.
The Pilgrims feast lasted for three days.