For Immediate Release
November 7, 2024
Holy day of obligation moved to December 9 in observance of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Baltimore, MD – Archbishop William E. Lori announced that the observance of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be transferred to Monday, December 9.
The holy day of obligation for Catholics is moved from its typical date this year, because December 8 marks the Second Sunday of Advent. The holy day celebrates the Church’s belief that Mary – patroness of the Church in the United States of America – was conceived without original sin.
Catholics are required to attend Mass on holy days of obligation. In previous years, when December 8 fell on a Sunday and the Solemnity was observed on Monday, the obligation to attend Mass did not transfer with the observance, according to the Archbishop. This year will be different based on guidance provided by the Dicastery for Legislative Texts in Vatican City.
U.S. bishops adopted a decree to name Mary the country’s patroness while meeting in Baltimore in 1846 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius IX placed the United States under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception in about a decade later.
###
Media Contact
Christian Kendzierski
Executive Director of Communications
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Christian.kendzierski@archbalt.org
410-547-5378