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To: All priests and deacons
From: Patricia DeJarnett, Associate Director, Office for Divine Worship
The secretariat of Divine Worship has compiled a list of days of prayer and special observances. The list is not exhaustive but includes many common observances promoted by the Holy See.
Dates given are those shared with the universal Church except as indicated, where the USCCB has approved alternate dates in the United State for special observances.
One special day is mandated in the dioceses of the United States – the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on January 22. The Roman Missal provides Mass texts for this day.
Mass texts may be drawn from the Masses for various needs and occasions as found in the Roman Missal. On Sundays in Ordinary Time, permission is required of the diocesan bishop to use these texts.
OBSERVANCE | DATE |
World Day of Peace | January 1 |
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity | January 18-25 |
Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children [USA] | January 22 |
Sunday of the Word of God | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time |
World Day for Consecrated Life | Sunday following February 2 [USA] |
World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking | February 8 |
World Day of the Sick | February 11 |
World Day of Prayer for the Church in China | May 24 |
World Day of Prayer for Vocations | Fourth Sunday of Easter |
World Communications Day | Seventh Sunday of Easter |
World Day for Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests | Solemnity of the Sacred Heart |
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation | September 1 |
Catechetical Sunday | Third Sunday of September [USA] |
World Day of Migrants and Refugees | Last Sunday of September |
World Mission Sunday | Penultimate Sunday of October |
World Youth Day | Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time [USA] |
World Day of the Poor | Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time |