Immaculate Conception 2026: Tuesday, Dec. 8 Is a Holy Day of Obligation

The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2026, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lists “December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception” among the holy days of obligation in the United States, so Mass is required. The USCCB’s rule that lifts the duty on a Saturday or a Monday does not name Dec. 8. This story gives the Dec. 8 weekday through 2031 and every U.S. holy day from Advent 2026 to December 2027.

Is Dec. 8, 2026, a holy day of obligation?

Yes. The USCCB’s canon 1246 complementary norm, adopted as a decree in 1991 and effective Jan. 1, 1993, lists six holy days in the United States besides Sundays. Dec. 8 is one of them. The USCCB’s proper calendar for U.S. dioceses also marks the day as the “Patronal Feastday of the United States of America.” Dec. 8, 2026, comes nine days after Advent begins on Sunday, Nov. 29. Our story on when Advent starts in 2026 covers the season.

What does the Immaculate Conception celebrate?

The feast marks the dogma Pope Pius IX defined in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, dated Dec. 8, 1854, according to the Vatican’s text. It holds that Mary was preserved from original sin “in the first instance of her conception.” The dogma is about the conception of Mary, not the conception of Jesus.

Which U.S. holy days of obligation fall from Advent 2026 to December 2027?

The table lists each date on the U.S. list from Dec. 8, 2026, to Dec. 8, 2027. Weekdays are computed from the calendar. “Status” applies the USCCB rule to that weekday.

Date	Holy day	Mass required?
Tue., Dec. 8, 2026	Immaculate Conception	Yes; the Saturday/Monday rule does not name Dec. 8
Fri., Dec. 25, 2026	Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas)	Yes
Fri., Jan. 1, 2027	Mary, Mother of God	Yes
Thu., May 6, 2027, or Sun., May 9, 2027	Ascension	Thursday, or the Seventh Sunday of Easter where the province moved it
Sun., Aug. 15, 2027	Assumption	Sunday, so the Saturday/Monday rule does not apply
Mon., Nov. 1, 2027	All Saints	No; the precept is abrogated on a Monday
Wed., Dec. 8, 2027	Immaculate Conception	Yes
Sat., Dec. 25, 2027	Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas)	Yes; the rule does not name Dec. 25

The Ascension is listed as “Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter.” The USCCB norm lets provinces move it to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, effective Sept. 8, 1999. Easter 2027 is March 28, which gives Thursday, May 6, and Sunday, May 9. For All Saints in 2026, see our story on All Saints Day and holy days of obligation.

Is Jan. 1, 2027, a holy day of obligation?

Yes. Jan. 1, “the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God,” is on the U.S. list, and Jan. 1, 2027, is a Friday. The norm says that “whenever January 1 … falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.” A Friday is neither.

What weekday is Dec. 8 from 2026 to 2031?

Year	Dec. 8 falls on
2026	Tuesday
2027	Wednesday
2028	Friday
2029	Saturday
2030	Sunday
2031	Monday

The rule that abrogates the precept names Jan. 1, Aug. 15 and Nov. 1 only, so it does not name Dec. 8 in 2029 or 2031. For Dec. 8, 2030, a Sunday, the USCCB calendar for that year will set the observance; this story does not predict it. The USCCB liturgical calendar page lists the 2026 and 2027 calendars, both updated Feb. 5, 2026.

What are the Mass times at the National Shrine on Dec. 8, 2026?

Not yet announced. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., posts a holy-day Mass schedule on its Mass and confession times page, but its 2026 Dec. 7-8 times have not been published, and this story does not print the undated times as 2026. Check the page, or your own parish, before you go.

How to plan around Dec. 8

• Mark Tuesday, Dec. 8, on the December 2026 printable calendar, and later dates on the printable yearly calendar.
• Print the one-page planner above for Dec. 8, 2026, and the holy days through December 2027.
• For the next Marian date on the calendar, see Our Lady of Guadalupe Day.

Not covered here: Mass times, local diocesan rules and other local exceptions. Check your diocese or parish.