Simbang Gabi Christmas Novena Masses

Come join us in the celebration of Simbang Gabi in preparation for Christmas on the following days:

2025

Monday December 15 - 7 pm

Tuesday December 16 - 7 pm

Wednesday December 17 - 7 pm

Thursday December 18 - 7 pm

Friday December 19 - 7 pm

Saturday December 20 - 5 pm

Sunday December 21 - 7 pm

Monday December 22 - 7 pm

Tuesday December 23 - 7 pm

Recitation of the Holy Rosary will commence 40 minutes before Holy Mass. Come early!

A Christmas Marian Novena of Masses, “Simbang Gabi” is a nine-day devotion that honours the Annunciation, the expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and culminating in the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Donations are gratefully accepted via Interac e-Transfer to: AnnunciationBldg.etransfer@caedm.ca. May Almighty God bless you ✠

Annunciation Catholic Church

9420 – 163 Street NW Edmonton, AB T5R 0A7

annunciation.caedm.ca

Holy Days of Obligation

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Holy Mass. - (Canon Law 1244-1253)

Holy days of obligation are feast days on which Catholics are required to attend Holy Mass and to avoid (to the extent that they are able) servile work. The faithful go to Mass on these days to rejoice. The Church invites the faithful to Mass on these holy days to recall that there is a reason to rejoice -

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." (John 3: 16.)

From this perspective, holy days of obligation are a gift. The faithful take a step back from preoccupations to remember what is true, good, and beautiful.

Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son, or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Exodus 20: 8 - 11

Every Sunday, the Lord's Day, is recognized as a holy day of obligation and Catholics are bound to participate in Holy Mass on Sunday or at an anticipated Mass on Saturday in the late afternoon or evening.

There are 10 Holy Days of Obligation in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church:

• Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother Of God - January 1
• Epiphany - January 6
• Solemnity of St. Joseph - March 19
• Ascension of Our Lord
• Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
• Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul - June 29
• Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Into Heaven - August 15
• All Saints Day - November 1
• Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - December 8
• Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord - December 25

Ref: Holy Days of Obligation, Liturgical Calendar, Most Important Solemnities & Feasts