Dear all,
Tomorrow will be All Saints Day, it's a holy day of obligation here.
I've read somewhere that whenever it's a holy day of obligation, we have to refrain from work (like Sunday).
Is this true??
Thanks in advance.
Alan
Yes. There is no definition in the Ecclisiastical Dictionary of 1914 BUT...
We were taught this in school; on the back of most Catholic calendars under "Holy Days of Obligation" it reads
"All Sundays and (then lists the dates for the country you're in)."
This is also the wording in most Pre Vat II missals.
In the 1979 Modern Catholic Dictionary by Father John A. Hardon it states,
"Holy Days of Obligation. Feast days to be observed by attendance at Mass and rest, as far as possible, from unnecessary servile work."
This is the same observation we make for Sundays.
Prior to Vat II, people in necessary services, e.g. police, firemen, hospital workers etc were automatically exempt but anyone else had to get permission from their parish priest. Even Catholic schools were closed on
those days.
It was always a mortal sin if the day wasn't observed the same as a Sunday.
Nowadays we interpret according to our own wishes and behave as if we're our own authority,