Find the calendar of Catholic and Christian holidays in 2025
Our Christian life is punctuated with great festivals to celebrate the life of Christ and renew our faith. Find here the precise dates of the highlights of the year 2025.
January 2025
Wednesday January 1, 2025: Solemnity of Saint Mary, mother of God.
On January 1, the Church celebrates Mary as Mother of God. The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God is a major celebration which refers to the Council of Ephesus in 431, one of the most important in the history of the Church.
Sunday January 5, 2025: Epiphany.
Very popular for its cake, Epiphany is a great solemnity in the Christian liturgical calendar. It evokes the first revelation to the world of God incarnate, in the figure of the Child Jesus.
February 2025
Sunday February 2, 2025: Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Candlemas)
Candlemas is celebrated forty days after Christmas, on February 2. It celebrates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, while being associated with the tasting of pancakes.
March 2025
Wednesday March 5, 2025: Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. During this day, the faithful attend a mass during which the priest traces a cross on their foreheads with ashes, from the branches of last year’s Palm Sunday.
From Wednesday March 5 to Thursday April 17, 2025: Lent
Lent represents the forty-day period preceding Easter, in reference to the forty days of fasting of Jesus Christ in the desert. During this period, Christians are invited to fast in order to better turn their attention to God. They are also invited to rethink their way of life and refocus on themselves and their loved ones.
Tuesday March 25, 2025: Feast of the Annunciation
The Church commemorates during the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, the announcement made to the Virgin Mary by the angel Gabriel of her divine motherhood, where she will give birth to a child named Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.
April 2025
Sunday April 13, 2025: Palm Sunday
The festival celebrated this Sunday, called Palm and Passion Sunday, marks the entry into Holy Week.
Thursday April 17, 2025: Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday is the first of three days of the Easter Triduum, the last of Holy Week before Easter. The faithful commemorate the Last Supper, a meal where Jesus bids farewell to his disciples and institutes the Eucharist.
Friday April 18, 2025: Good Friday
On Good Friday, celebrated the Friday before Easter, the Catholic Church commemorates the passion of Christ, including his arrest, his trial, his death on the Cross and then his burial. It is the most dense and poignant day of Holy Week. Exceptionally, there is no mass that day.
Saturday April 19, 2025: Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday is the day of “great silence”. With Christ, entering the night of the tomb, the faithful try to live this day in silence, meditation, hope. Through a more or less relative “rest”, the Church does not see it as a day of “emptiness”, but a moment to accompany Mary in her pain as a bereaved mother.
Sunday April 20, 2025: Easter
Easter commemorates the Resurrection of Christ. It is celebrated on a Sunday and takes place at the end of Lent.
May 2025
Thursday May 29, 2025: Ascension
On Ascension Day, forty days after Easter Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, and ten days before Pentecost, the Church celebrates Christ’s elevation to heaven. Jesus joins God, his father there.
Saturday May 31, 2025: Visitation of the Virgin Mary
On May 31, the last day of the month dedicated to Mary, the Church celebrates the visit of the Virgin Mary to her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant. The latter would give birth to John the Baptist, the last prophet who would prepare and announce the coming of the Messiah.
June 2025
Sunday June 8, 2025: Pentecost
Celebrated fifty days after Easter, Pentecost closes the Easter season. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the birth of the Church.
Sunday June 22, 2025: Feast of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ
The Church commemorates the institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist, calling for a deeper understanding of its meaning. This festival celebrates the God of love who gives his body and blood as food for eternal life.
Friday June 27, 2025: Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Church celebrates the Sacred Heart of Jesus, symbol of divine love. Devotion to the Sacred Heart invites us to focus attention on the love, compassion and mercy that reveal the heart of God.
August 2025
Wednesday August 6, 2025: Transfiguration
This feast announces the entry of Jesus into glory and divine light. Jesus took his apostles Peter, John and James to Mount Tabor to pray. He prayed and became enlightened, while Moses and Elijah appeared to him in Glory. This mystery confirms the divinity of Christ.
Friday August 15, 2025: Assumption
Celebrated on August 15, the Assumption is one of the great festivals of Christian life. It commemorates Mary’s glory with God and her ascent into heaven, just after her death.
September 2025
Monday September 8, 2025: Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin
Every year on September 8, the Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.
Sunday September 14, 2025: Feast of the Glorious Cross
Every September 14, the Feast of the Glorious Cross offers a meditation to enter into the wisdom of God, through the Cross, symbol of Salvation and divine love which triumphed over evil and death.
November 2025
Saturday November 1, 2025: All Saints’ Day
As its name suggests, All Saints’ Day is the feast of all saints. This Catholic holiday dedicated to their worship is celebrated every year on November 1st.
Friday November 21, 2025: Presentation of Mary in the Temple
The Church celebrates the Presentation of Mary in the Temple which is not found in the Gospel, but in an apocryphal gospel by James the Less, written in the 2nd century. This Catholic holiday commemorates the moment when Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary, wanted to thank God by dedicating their child to Him at the temple in Jerusalem.
Sunday November 23, 2025: Feast of Christ the King of the Universe
Every last Sunday in November, the liturgical year ends with the Feast of Christ the King of the Universe. It celebrates the sovereignty and kingship of Jesus over all creation, because He is “the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).
From Sunday November 30 to Wednesday December 24, 2025: Advent
Advent is the 4-week period during which Catholics prepare internally to celebrate the birth of Jesus, son of God, during midnight mass, on the night of December 24 to 25. It is a time corresponding to pious and joyful expectation.
December 2025
Monday December 8, 2025: Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception which takes place at the beginning of Advent, on the supposed date of Mary’s conception, recalls that the Virgin was preserved from original sin from her birth.
Thursday December 25, 2025: Christmas
For Christians, Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. At midnight, a special mass is celebrated for the Nativity, on the night of December 24 to 25. It is a celebration of joy and hope with many traditions (Santa Claus, Christmas tree, gifts, Christmas markets, etc.).
Sunday December 28, 2025: Feast of the Holy Family
In the middle of the Octave of Christmas, the Church commemorates the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This celebration allows Christians to remember the Holy Family and to take them as an example for all families.
