Catholic calendar 2027

The Catholic calendar 2027 is the Church's year of grace, the cycle of seasons and feasts through which we walk with Christ from his coming to his kingship. Here it is month by month, with the seasons and their colors, every holy day of obligation in the United States, the movable feasts, and links to our full page for each one. The dates follow the US bishops' liturgical calendar for 2027.

The Catholic calendar 2027 at a glance

• First Sunday of Advent (start of liturgical year 2027): November 29, 2026
• Christmas: Friday, December 25, 2026
• Mary, the Holy Mother of God: Friday, January 1, 2027
• Epiphany (US): Sunday, January 3
• Baptism of the Lord: Sunday, January 10
• Ash Wednesday: February 10
• St. Patrick's Day: Wednesday, March 17
• St. Joseph: Friday, March 19
• Palm Sunday: March 21
• Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday: March 25, 26 and 27
• Easter Sunday: March 28
• Divine Mercy Sunday: April 4
• Annunciation (transferred): Monday, April 5
• Ascension: Thursday, May 6, or Sunday, May 9
• Pentecost: May 16
• Most Holy Trinity: May 23
• Corpus Christi (US): Sunday, May 30
• Sacred Heart of Jesus: Friday, June 4
• Sts. Peter and Paul: Tuesday, June 29
• Assumption: Sunday, August 15
• All Saints: Monday, November 1
• All Souls: Tuesday, November 2
• Christ the King: Sunday, November 21
• First Sunday of Advent (start of liturgical year 2028): November 28, 2027
• Immaculate Conception: Wednesday, December 8
• Christmas: Saturday, December 25, 2027

How the Church's year works

The liturgical year doesn't begin on January 1. It begins on the First Sunday of Advent, the Sunday nearest November 30. So "liturgical year 2027" opened on November 29, 2026, and closes on Saturday, November 27, 2027. The General Norms for the Liturgical Year (1969) lay out the order: Advent, Christmas, a first stretch of Ordinary Time, Lent, the Easter Triduum, the fifty days of Easter, and a long second stretch of Ordinary Time ending with Christ the King.

Most of the year's shape depends on Easter. Easter falls on the Sunday after the first full moon of spring, by the Church's reckoning, so it can come anywhere from March 22 to April 25. In 2027 it comes early, on March 28. Ash Wednesday is forty-six days before it, the Ascension forty days after (counting Easter as the first), Pentecost fifty days after. Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart follow Pentecost in turn. An early Easter makes a short winter Ordinary Time (only five weeks in 2027) and a long summer one.

The other great feasts are fixed: Christmas on December 25, the Assumption on August 15, All Saints on November 1. They move through the days of the week instead, which is why All Saints carries no obligation in the US this year and Christmas lands on a Saturday.

The Sunday and weekday readings

Sunday readings run in a three-year cycle. The US bishops' calendar gives Year B from November 29, 2026, to November 21, 2027; most of its Sunday Gospels come from St. Mark, with five Sundays in summer from chapter 6 of St. John, the Bread of Life discourse. Year C, the year of St. Luke, begins on November 28, 2027. The weekday readings run in two cycles: Cycle I in 2027, changing to Cycle II at Advent.

Liturgical seasons and colors in 2027

The color of the priest's vestments tells you where you are in the year. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (no. 346) sets them today. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that white was long the only color, and that Pope Innocent III, who died in 1216, was among the first to distinguish them, naming white, red, green and black as the main colors and violet as an occasional one.

• Christmas season, white: from Christmas to the Baptism of the Lord, January 10, 2027.
• Ordinary Time, green: January 11 to February 9, and again from May 17 to November 27.
• Lent, violet: February 10 to the evening of March 25. Rose may be worn on Laetare Sunday, March 7.
• Easter Triduum: white on Holy Thursday evening, red on Good Friday, white at the Easter Vigil.
• Easter season, white: March 28 to May 16, ending with red for Pentecost.
• Advent, violet: from November 28, 2027, with rose on Gaudete Sunday, December 12.

Red is also worn on Palm Sunday and on the feasts of apostles, evangelists and martyrs, and white on feasts of the Lord, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the angels and of saints who were not martyrs. On All Souls' Day and at funerals in the United States the priest may wear violet, white or black. The General Instruction also allows "more precious" vestments, gold or silver, on solemn days.

Holy days of obligation 2027 (United States)

Besides every Sunday, the Latin dioceses of the United States keep six holy days. In 2027:

• Mary, the Holy Mother of God: Friday, January 1. Obligation applies.
• The Ascension: Thursday, May 6, in the provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha and Philadelphia; elsewhere moved to Sunday, May 9.
• The Assumption: Sunday, August 15. Obligation applies (it is a Sunday).
• All Saints: Monday, November 1. Not obligatory in 2027, because it falls on a Monday.
• The Immaculate Conception: Wednesday, December 8. Obligation applies.
• Christmas: Saturday, December 25. Obligation applies, and Sunday, December 26, has its own.

The rules behind each one are on our holy days of obligation 2027 page, and the ones still ahead this fall are on holy days of obligation 2026.

The rest of 2026: Catholic calendar 2026, November and December

If you are planning the weeks just ahead, these are the remaining great days of 2026:

• All Saints: Sunday, November 1, 2026. It replaces the Sunday, and Sunday Mass covers it. See All Saints' Day.
• All Souls: Monday, November 2, 2026. See All Souls' Day and our prayers for the dead.
• Christ the King: Sunday, November 22, 2026, the last Sunday of liturgical year 2026. See Christ the King.
• Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26, 2026.
• First Sunday of Advent: November 29, 2026, the start of Year B. See Advent 2026.
• St. Andrew: Monday, November 30, when the St. Andrew Christmas novena begins.
• St. Nicholas: Sunday, December 6, 2026, the Second Sunday of Advent. See St. Nicholas Day.
• Immaculate Conception: Tuesday, December 8, 2026, a holy day of obligation.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe: Saturday, December 12, 2026. See Our Lady of Guadalupe.
• Christmas: Friday, December 25, 2026, with the Christmas 2026 Mass schedule; the Holy Family follows on Sunday, December 27.

Month by month: the Catholic calendar 2027

January 2027

The year opens in the Christmas season. Friday, January 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, a holy day of obligation. In the US the Epiphany is kept on Sunday, January 3, the day many families chalk their doors in the Epiphany house blessing and remember the Magi. The American saints follow: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on January 4 and St. John Neumann on January 5.

The Baptism of the Lord on Sunday, January 10 closes the Christmas season, and Ordinary Time begins on Monday, January 11. St. Agnes is remembered on Thursday, January 21. Friday, January 22, is the US Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 24, is the Sunday of the Word of God that Pope Francis set in 2019. The Conversion of St. Paul falls on Monday, January 25, and St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday, January 28.

February 2027

Tuesday, February 2, is the Presentation of the Lord, forty days after Christmas, when candles are blessed: see Candlemas. The next day is St. Blaise, with the blessing of throats. St. Agatha falls on February 5, St. Paul Miki and his companions on February 6, and St. Josephine Bakhita on February 8.

Lent comes early. Ash Wednesday is February 10, which is also the day of St. Scholastica; Ash Wednesday takes the day. It is a day of fasting and abstinence. Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, and St. Valentine, February 14, both fall in the first days of Lent 2027. February 14 is the First Sunday of Lent. The Chair of St. Peter is Monday, February 22.

March 2027

All of March but its last days belongs to Lent. Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is March 7, when rose vestments may be worn. St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday, March 17, so no dispensation from meat is needed this year. Friday, March 19, is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, and because it is a solemnity there is no Friday abstinence that day; it is the day for a St. Joseph's Table, and the St. Joseph novena begins on March 10.

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday 2027, March 21. Holy Thursday is March 25, with the Chrism Mass and, in the evening, the Mass of the Lord's Supper, which closes Lent. Good Friday is March 26, a day of fasting and abstinence; see also the Stations of the Cross. The Easter Vigil is the night of Holy Saturday, March 27, and Easter 2027 is Sunday, March 28.

Because March 25 is Holy Thursday, the Annunciation moves to April this year.

April 2027

April opens in the Easter octave, eight days kept as one great Sunday. It ends on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 4; the Divine Mercy novena begins on Good Friday. On Monday, April 5, the Church keeps the Annunciation of the Lord, transferred from March 25, the day the angel Gabriel came to Mary and the Word became flesh. Let us pray the Angelus with special care that day, though in Easter time the Regina Caeli takes its place.

St. Catherine of Siena is Thursday, April 29.

May 2027

May is Mary's month, and in 2027 nearly all of it is Easter time. St. Joseph the Worker is Saturday, May 1. The Ascension is Thursday, May 6, a holy day of obligation in five US provinces, and Sunday, May 9, everywhere else. The novena to the Holy Spirit runs from May 7 to 15. Our Lady of Fatima falls on Thursday, May 13 (see the Miracle of the Sun), and in the US St. Isidore the Farmer on Saturday, May 15.

Pentecost is Sunday, May 16, and closes the Easter season. The next day is the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, and Ordinary Time resumes in its seventh week. Trinity Sunday is May 23. Corpus Christi falls on Thursday, May 27, in the universal calendar and on Sunday, May 30, in the US. The Visitation closes the month on Monday, May 31.

June 2027

Friday, June 4, is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which falls on a First Friday this year (see the Sacred Heart prayer and the First Friday devotion). The Immaculate Heart of Mary on Saturday, June 5, is an optional memorial this year, as the US calendar notes, because it meets the memorial of St. Boniface; see the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is Thursday, June 24, and the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul is Tuesday, June 29.

July 2027

Ordinary Time, green vestments and summer. Independence Day falls on Sunday, July 4. St. Kateri Tekakwitha is Wednesday, July 14, in the US. St. Mary Magdalene is Thursday, July 22. Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, are Monday, July 26, and St. Ignatius of Loyola closes the month on Saturday, July 31.

August 2027

St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests, is Wednesday, August 4. The Transfiguration is Friday, August 6. St. Lawrence is Tuesday, August 10, St. Clare Wednesday, August 11, and St. Maximilian Kolbe Saturday, August 14.

The Assumption falls on Sunday, August 15, and takes the place of that Sunday's Mass, so one Mass satisfies both obligations. St. Monica and her son St. Augustine come together on August 27 and 28.

September 2027

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Wednesday, September 8. The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is Tuesday, September 14 (see the True Cross), followed by Our Lady of Sorrows on Wednesday, September 15. St. Pio of Pietrelcina is Thursday, September 23. The Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael share Wednesday, September 29, the old Michaelmas, and St. Jerome is Thursday, September 30.

October 2027

October is the month of the Rosary. St. Thérèse of Lisieux is Friday, October 1, the Guardian Angels Saturday, October 2, and St. Francis of Assisi Monday, October 4, with the blessing of animals. Our Lady of the Rosary is Thursday, October 7; learn how to pray the Rosary. St. Teresa of Ávila is Friday, October 15, St. John Paul II Friday, October 22, and the apostles Simon and Jude Thursday, October 28.

November 2027

All Saints is Monday, November 1, 2027. The solemnity is celebrated, but in the US the obligation to attend Mass is lifted this year because it falls on a Monday. All Souls follows on Tuesday, November 2, and the whole month is given to praying for the dead. The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica is Tuesday, November 9, St. Martin of Tours Thursday, November 11, and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Saturday, November 13.

Christ the King closes the year on Sunday, November 21. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 25. The new liturgical year, Year C, begins with the First Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2027. St. Andrew is Tuesday, November 30.

December 2027

Advent fills most of the month: the Second Sunday of Advent is December 5, St. Nicholas Monday, December 6, and the Immaculate Conception, patronal feast of the United States and a holy day of obligation, Wednesday, December 8. St. Juan Diego is Thursday, December 9. Gaudete Sunday falls on December 12, and because a Sunday of Advent outranks it, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is omitted from the US calendar in 2027; we may still honor her in the homily, prayers and hymns. St. Lucy is Monday, December 13.

The last days of Advent bring Las Posadas and Simbang Gabi, both beginning December 16, and the O Antiphons from December 17. The Fourth Sunday of Advent is December 19. Christmas falls on Saturday, December 25, and the Holy Family on Sunday, December 26, so plan for two Masses. St. John the Apostle is Monday, December 27, and the Holy Innocents Tuesday, December 28.

Finding any day of the year

This page gives the great days. For the saint of any single date, see our feast day calendar or today's saint of the day. How solemnities, feasts and memorials rank, and why some saints drop out when they fall on a Sunday, is explained in feast days and the Church calendar.

May the year of grace 2027 bring us closer to the Lord in every season. Mary, Mother of God, whose feast opens the year, pray for us.