A Note From Father Eickhoff

November 10, 2024

There has been a great deal of news in the Catholic media concerning whether the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (held on December 8th) is a Holy Day of Obligation this year. Normally, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States since Mary – under her title of the Immaculate Conception – is the patroness of the United States. However, this year the date of the feast (December 8th) falls on a Sunday. A Sunday Mass since it is considered a “little Easter” cannot be superseded by any feast less than a feast of the Lord (a feast day in honor of one Person of the Holy Trinity). Therefore, in accordance with Church law the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is moved to the next Monday (December 9th). In normal circumstances the obligation to attend Mass on Holy Days of Obligation is dispensed with if the Holy Day of Obligation falls on a Monday. For this reason, the official Church calendar prepared last year declared that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception this year is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Within the last month however there was a communication from the Holy See to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) stating that in cases such as this the Feast of the Immaculate Conception remains a Holy Day of Obligation. This has led to a lot of confusion as to what is happening with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception this year. Is the celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception this year a holy day of obligation or not?

To clear up this confusion the Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet (the diocese that St. Anne Parish belongs to), Ronald Hicks, under his authority as the diocesan bishop has decreed that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Monday, December 9th) is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year.

Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on this day to give thanks to God for the gift of our Blessed Mother and patroness of our country. As well as to ask our Blessed Mother to intercede on our behalf before her Son our Lord Jesus Christ for our personal needs and for the needs of our nation. However, no Catholic in the Diocese of Joliet is required under Church law to go to church this day.  St. Anne Parish will have three Masses on Monday, December 9th in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at 8am, 12pm, and 7pm.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor