holy day of obligation
- noun
- /ˈhoʊli deɪ əv əˈblɪɡeɪʃən/
- Jargon
:
día santo de obligación
- It is a holy day of obligation, so make sure to get to Mass today.
Examples
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Please bring back as many Catholic traditions as possible, including holy days of obligation on their proper days.
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For serving liquor after hours, and on the holy day of obligation.
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It is a Holy Day of Obligation, so make sure to get to Mass today.
Blog text (29) -
"Today is August 15," Nana Marge went on, "The Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, which means we've missed a holy day of obligation, by the way, and which also means school starts in exactly two weeks."
Fiction book (1997) -
The Code of Canon Law logically mandates, "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."
How Sacred
Surface Forms
Morphology
holy + day + of + obligation
The meaning 'a religious day one must attend/observe' is directly and transparently built from 'holy' (sacred) + 'day' (a calendar/observance day) + 'obligation' (a duty). This is a regular compositional noun phrase following English patterns and has close equivalents in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reasonably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Holy day of obligation comes from church practice: certain days were called holy because they are special for worship, and called obligation because church leaders said people 'must' go to Mass on those days. That's why it means a religious day when going to Mass is required.