The Code of Canon Law states that on Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass and to abstain from those labors and business concerns that impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body. The obligation is satisfied by assisting at Mass wherever it is celebrated in a Catholic rite, either on the day itself or on the evening of the preceding day. Universal law lists ten holy days besides Sunday: the Nativity of the Lord, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Mary the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and All Saints. The same canon allows a conference of bishops, with the prior approval of the Apostolic See, to suppress some of these or to transfer them to a Sunday, which is why the list a Catholic actually keeps depends on the country. In the dioceses of the United States six days are observed: Mary, the Holy Mother of God on January 1; the Ascension of the Lord; the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15; All Saints on November 1; the Immaculate Conception on December 8, the patronal feast of the United States; and the Nativity of the Lord on December 25. The Epiphany is transferred to the Sunday between January 2 and 8, and Corpus Christi to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. The Ascension is transferred from Thursday to the Seventh Sunday of Easter in most ecclesiastical provinces of the country, while a number of provinces in the Northeast and one in the Midwest retain it on Thursday; the diocesan calendar states which applies. One further adaptation is peculiar to the United States and often misunderstood. When January 1, August 15, or November 1 falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is lifted, though the solemnity itself is still celebrated. December 8 and December 25 always oblige. When December 8 falls on a Sunday of Advent the solemnity is transferred to Monday, December 9; the bishops publish guidance whenever this occurs, and the faithful should follow the direction given for that year. Anyone unable to attend for a serious reason, such as illness or the care of an infant, is excused, and the Church urges such persons to keep the day in prayer, with the Scriptures of the Mass, or by joining a broadcast liturgy, which does not satisfy the obligation but does sanctify the day.

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