Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Ipoh, Malaysia
Our Blessed Mother: Recent past and coming feasts (click on image for viewing video).
For Catholics, many days of the calendar year are a cause for celebration. Nearly every day marks the feast day of a saint — a day when that saint’s holy life and deeds are remembered. Some days (marked by an asterisk in table below) and all Sundays are holy days of obligation, which means that Catholics are obliged to attend Mass that day. (1)
| S/N | Date | Feast Day | What it commemorates |
| 1 | Wed, Jan 1 | Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God | As the Mother of God, Mary receives special adoration from Catholics (and has a whole month set aside to honor her). |
| 2 | Sun, Jan 5 | Epiphany | Epiphany commemorates the visit of the Magi, the three kings bearing gifts for the newborn Christ in the stable at Bethlehem. |
| 3 | Sun, Jan 12 | Baptism of the Lord | The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes. |
| 3 | Wed, Feb 26 | Ash Wednesday | It marks the start of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, when Christians believe Jesus died and was resurrected. |
| 4 | Sun, Apr 5 | Palm Sunday | Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, when palm branches were placed in his path, before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent. |
| 5 | Thu, Apr 9 | Maundy Thursday | Christians commemorate the day on which Jesus Christ shared the Last Supper with his twelve apostles, prior to his crucifixion. Jesus is believed to have washed the disciples' feet before the meal in order to demonstrate the importance of serving others. |
| 6 | Fri, Apr 10 | Good Friday | Good Friday is a day for sombre reflection of Christ's Passion and Death at the Cross in atonement for the sins of humanity to bring salvation to the world. |
| 7 | Sun, Apr 12 | Easter Sunday | Easter is the greatest celebration in the Catholic church because it is the completion of the Holy week that ends with the resurrection of Jesus, showing that He has conquered sin and death. |
| 8 | Sun, Apr 19 | Divine Mercy | This Feast, named by Blessed John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, came about through the observance of the Divine Mercy Novena, which the Lord, in a vision according to St. Faustina, asked to pray for nine days, beginning on Good Friday and ending on the Saturday after Easter — the eve of the Octave of Easter. |
| 9 | Thu, May 21 | Ascension of Jesus* | This Feast is significant as it shows that Jesus has returned to Heaven after completing His mission on Earth. Christians believe that Jesus will come again to Earth for the final judgement. |
| 10 | Sun, May 31 | Pentecost Sunday | Pentecost Sunday is celebrated to recognize the gift of the Holy Spirit, realizing that God's very life, breath and energy live in believers. |
| 11 | Sun, Jun 7 | Trinity Sunday | This Feast marks the first Sunday after Pentecost, and celebrates the Holy Trinity – the Christian doctrine of three persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, giving thanks for everything the Trinity has done for us. |
| 12 | Sun, June 14 | Corpus Christi | This event commemorates the Last Supper on the day before Jesus' crucifixion, as described in the Bible, and proclaims the truth of the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the actual body of Christ during Mass. |
| 13 | Sat, Jun 19 | Most Sacred Heart of Jesus | This important feast day is first of all a call to Eucharistic adoration, because in the Sacred Host the Lord Jesus is truly present and He offers each of us His Heart, His Merciful Love. |
| 14 | Sat, Aug 15 | Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary* | This Feast celebrates the belief that God assumed the Virgin Mary, body and soul, into Heaven following her death, a dogma defined by Pius XII in 1950 in Munificentissimus Deus. |
| 15 | Sun, Nov 1 | All Saints' Day* | The Christian celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the "Church triumphant"), and the living (the "Church militant"). |
| 16 | Sun, Nov 22 | Christ the King | The Feast is celebrated in honour of Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation, and is essentially a magnification of the Feast of the Ascension, and was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. |
| 17 | Tue, Dec 8 | The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary | The Feast celebrates the dogma that the Blessed Virgin Mary, though conceived naturally in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, was conceived without original sin, i.e., immaculate conception, and the official confirmation of the dogma was defined in 1854 by Pope Pius IX. |
| 18 | Fri, Dec 25 | Christmas* | Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second person of the Trinity, who was incarnated in the flesh to assume a human nature to became a man in the form of Jesus Christ, who was truly God and truly man. |
"The upright rejoice in the presence of God, delighted and crying out for joy."
Psalms 68:3
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References: (1) For Dummies, What is a Catholic Feast Day?: <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-a-catholic-feast-day.html>; (2) 2020 Catholic Holidays: <https://www.calendar-12.com/catholic_holidays/2020>; (3) Ordo, 2019-2020.
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Feast Days
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