What is the most important celebration in the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Important days for the catholic church are called Holy Days of Obligation. These include every Sunday, the solemnity of Mary, the Ascension, Assuption of Mary, All Saints Day, the Immaculate Conception, and Christmas. Important days also include when you fast are on Fridays of Lent.

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

Answer 2

Catholic Holidays generally are Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day (the day after Christmas - Boxing Day in Canada), Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. St. Patrick's Day is a holiday only for certain countries not in most parts of the world. Pentecost is a feast day in the Catholic Church but it is not an accepted holiday in most parts of the world. Each country has it's own set of special Holy Days of Obligation to honor specific patrons and miraculous events, however, over the years the increasing secularization of society has led to these days becoming normal work days and so Catholics, while yet celebrating the day as a holiday, may have to work though it is hoped they can at least attend an evening Mass.

Every Saint has a feast day that is celebrated by the church, but they are not considered Holy Days of Obligation. HDO are January 1 - Mary Mother of God, August 1 - Assumption of Mary, November 1 - All Saints Day, December 8 - Immaculate Conception, December 25 - Christmas. Other Holidays include Ashe Wednesday, Pal Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, Ascention, Pentecost Sunday, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi Sunday, Christ the King, 4 Sundays of Advent.

Answer 3

1. January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
2. Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension
3. August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
4. November 1, the solemnity of All Saints
5. December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
6. December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Catholic AnswerThere are ten Holy Days of Obligation in the universal Church, there are usually six in the United States, most dioceses transfer the Epiphany and the Ascension to the nearest Sunday. The *'s denote Holy Days of Obligation in the United States.

* 1 Jan Mary, Mother of God

* 6 Jan The Epiphany

19 Mar St. Joseph

* Ascension

Corpus Christi

29 Jun Sts. Peter & Paul

* 15 Aug Assumption

* 1 Nov All Saints

* 8 Dec Immaculate Conception

* 25 Dec Christmas

However, depending on what country you live in, some bishops' Conferences have requested to be released from some Holy Days of Obligation (they are still Holy Days, but, for instance, in the United States, you are not obligated to go to Mass on St. Joseph's, Sts. Peter & Paul, or Corpus Christi under pain of sin. Other days may be transferred to the nearest Sunday. Some bishops' conferences release their subjects from the Obligation if some Holy Days fall on a Saturday or Monday.

Answer 4

The most important holiday for Catholics is Easter, also called Pasch. This is the anniversary of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. It is celebrated the first full moon after the spring equinox

The season leading up to Easter, Lent, is also important, particularly Holy Week, the week before Easter. In Holy Week; Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are of special importance

Christmas day, celebrating the Birth of Jesus, is also very important

Other important days are The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, St. Joseph's feast day, All Saints day, All Soul's Day, Corpus Christi, Christ the King, Mary Mother of God, Epiphany, The Transfiguration, the Ascension, Pentecost and Candlemass and Ash Wednesday are also of special importance.

In addition to all Sundays (including Palm Sunday, Easter, etc.), U.S. Catholics must attend Mass on Christmas, Mary Mother of God, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, All Saints day

Answer 5

Catholic AnswerThe most important celebration of the Catholic Church is the Most Holy Eucharist, which is celebrated every single day all over the world, except for Good Friday. The Eucharist is nothing less than Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, accomplishing our salvation by His Offering of Himself upon the Cross, and then feeding us with His Most Precious Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion. Absolutely nothing comes even close to God coming to earth to ensure our salvation and offering His very life up for us.

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from Pocket Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J., Doubleday c 1980, 1985

Eucharist. The true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is really and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine, in order to offer himself in the sacrifice of the Mass and to be received as spiritual food in Holy Communion. It is called Eucharist, or "Thanksgiving", because at its institution at the Last Supper Christ "gave thanks," and by this fact it is the supreme object and act of Christian gratitude to God.

Although the same name is used, the Eucharist is any one or all three aspects of one mystery, namely the Real Presence, the Sacrifice, and Communion. As Real Presence, the Eucharist is Christ in His abiding action of High Priest, continuing now to communicate the graces He merited on Calvary; and as Communion, it is Christ coming to enlighten and strengthen the believer by nourishing his soul for eternal life.

from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

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1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, The church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is give to us.'" (Sacrasanctum concilium 47)

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I. The Eucharist--Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life

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1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." (Lumen Gentium 11) The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (Presbyterorum ordinis 5)

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1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit." (Congregation of Rites, instruction, Eucharisticum mysterium 6.)

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1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all. (Cf. 1 Cor 15:28.)

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1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking." (St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haeres. 4, 18, 5:J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca {Paris, 1857-1866} 7/1, 1028.)