Traditional Roman Catholic Calendar: 1962 Feasts, 2026-27

The traditional Roman Catholic calendar is the calendar of the Roman Missal and Breviary of 1962, the one kept wherever the Traditional Latin Mass is offered. It begins with the First Sunday of Advent, turns on the movable date of Easter, keeps the seasons of Septuagesima and Passiontide, the Ember Days and the octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, and ranks every day in one of four classes. The next liturgical year opens on Sunday, 29 November 2026.

Below: how the calendar works, its seasons and colors, the principal feasts month by month, and the key dates of 2026-2027. For the coming days, our liturgical calendar page gives each day's feast, class and color according to the 1962 books, and the saint of the day page tells the life of the saint the calendar honors.

Key dates of the traditional calendar, 2026-2027

Day	2026	2027
Septuagesima Sunday	1 February	24 January
Ash Wednesday	18 February	10 February
Easter Sunday	5 April	28 March
Ascension	14 May	6 May
Pentecost	24 May	16 May
Corpus Christi	4 June	27 May
Sacred Heart	12 June	4 June
Christ the King (last Sunday of October)	25 October	31 October
First Sunday of Advent	29 November	28 November

Ember Days, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of four weeks of the year:

• Advent 2026: 16, 18 and 19 December (after the Third Sunday of Advent).
• Lent 2027: 17, 19 and 20 February (after the First Sunday of Lent).
• Pentecost 2027: 19, 21 and 22 May (within the octave of Pentecost).
• September 2027: 22, 24 and 25 September (after the third Sunday of September).

In 2026, All Saints' Day (1 November) falls on a Sunday and, as a feast of the first class, replaces the Sunday Mass; All Souls' Day follows on Monday 2 November. The meaning of both days is told in our articles on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

Two cycles: the temporal and the sanctoral

The traditional calendar runs on two interlocking cycles.

• The temporal cycle (Proprium de Tempore, the Proper of the Time) unfolds the life of Our Lord: Advent, Christmastide and the time after Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent and Passiontide, Paschal time, and the time after Pentecost. Its dates move each year with Easter, which falls on the Sunday after the first full moon of spring.
• The sanctoral cycle (Proprium Sanctorum, the Proper of the Saints) assigns the feasts of Our Lady and the saints to fixed dates, most often the day of a saint's death, his "birthday" into heaven.

On any given day the two cycles meet, and the rank of each decides which Mass is said. The texts of that Mass are the Propers of the day, explained with the one-year cycle of readings in Latin Mass readings and Propers.

The four classes of feasts

The Code of Rubrics of 1960, which governs the 1962 books, ranks every liturgical day in one of four classes, replacing the older ranks of double, semidouble and simple:

• First class: the greatest days. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost with their octaves, the Epiphany, the Ascension, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, Christ the King; the Sundays of Advent and Lent, Low Sunday; Ash Wednesday and Holy Week; the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, the Assumption, St Joseph (19 March), St John the Baptist, Sts Peter and Paul, All Saints, and a few others.
• Second class: the other Sundays, the feasts of the Lord and of Our Lady of lesser rank, the feasts of the Apostles, the Ember Days, and the weekdays of Advent from 17 to 23 December.
• Third class: most feasts of the saints, and the weekdays of Advent before 17 December and of Lent.
• Fourth class: the ordinary weekdays of the time after Epiphany and after Pentecost, on which the priest may say the Mass of the preceding Sunday, a votive Mass, or a Mass for the dead.

When two celebrations fall on the same day, the higher class prevails and the lower is either commemorated (its prayers are added to the Mass of the day) or omitted for that year. In 1962 only Christmas, Easter and Pentecost keep an octave, eight days of celebration. The vigils of Christmas and Pentecost are of the first class; those of the Ascension, the Assumption, St John the Baptist and Sts Peter and Paul of the second; that of St Lawrence of the third.

The seasons of the traditional year

• Advent: four Sundays of preparation for Christmas, beginning on the Sunday nearest 30 November (see Advent).
• Christmastide: from the Vigil of Christmas to the Epiphany on 6 January (see Christmas), followed by the time after Epiphany, whose length depends on the date of Easter.
• Septuagesima: the three Sundays before Lent (Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima), when violet vestments return and the Alleluia falls silent, a season peculiar to the traditional calendar.
• Lent: from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, with Passiontide, the last two weeks, beginning on Passion Sunday.
• Paschal time: from Easter to the Saturday after Pentecost, with the Ascension on the fortieth day and the octave of Pentecost.
• Time after Pentecost: from Trinity Sunday to Advent, between twenty-three and twenty-eight Sundays; the last always takes the Mass of the Twenty-fourth Sunday, with the Gospel of the end of the world (Matthew 24).

The colors of the year

• White: feasts of Our Lord (except those of His Passion), of Our Lady, of the angels, and of saints who were not martyrs; Christmastide and Paschal time.
• Red: Pentecost, the feasts of the Passion and of the Holy Cross, the Apostles and the martyrs.
• Green: the Sundays and weekdays after Epiphany and after Pentecost.
• Violet: Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, the Ember Days (except those of Pentecost, in red) and most vigils.
• Rose: on two Sundays only, Gaudete (the Third Sunday of Advent) and Laetare (the Fourth Sunday of Lent).
• Black: Good Friday and Masses for the dead.

Principal feasts of the year, month by month

A selection of the feasts of the universal calendar of 1962, besides the movable feasts listed above:

• January: the Octave Day of Christmas (1), the Holy Name of Jesus (the Sunday between 2 and 5 January, otherwise 2 January), the Epiphany (6), the Holy Family (Sunday after the Epiphany).
• February: the Purification of Our Lady, Candlemas (2), Our Lady of Lourdes (11), the Chair of St Peter (22).
• March: St Joseph (19), the Annunciation (25).
• May: St Joseph the Worker (1), the Queenship of Our Lady (31).
• June: St John the Baptist (24), Sts Peter and Paul (29).
• July: the Most Precious Blood (1), Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16), St Anne (26).
• August: the Transfiguration (6), the Assumption (15), the Immaculate Heart of Mary (22).
• September: the Nativity of Our Lady (8), the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14), the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady (15), the Dedication of St Michael (29).
• October: the Holy Rosary (7), the Maternity of Our Lady (11), Christ the King (last Sunday).
• November: All Saints (1), All Souls (2), the Presentation of Our Lady (21).
• December: the Immaculate Conception (8), Christmas (25), St Stephen (26), St John the Evangelist (27), the Holy Innocents (28).

Some of these dates differ in the reformed calendar of 1969: Christ the King was moved to the last Sunday before Advent, the Holy Family to the Sunday within the Christmas octave, and many saints to other days (St Benedict, for instance, from 21 March to 11 July). Saints canonized after 1958 are not in the 1962 calendar.

How the traditional calendar differs from the modern one

The calendar promulgated in 1969 for the reformed rite removed the season of Septuagesima, the octave of Pentecost and the Passiontide of two weeks; replaced the times after Epiphany and after Pentecost with a single "Ordinary Time"; left the Ember Days to the bishops' conferences; and reorganized the feasts of the saints. Its Sunday readings follow a three-year cycle. Those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass keep the 1962 calendar, as the Missal requires; to keep it at Mass yourself, find a Traditional Latin Mass near you. The differences between the two rites as a whole are set out in the Tridentine Mass vs the Novus Ordo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the traditional Roman Catholic calendar?

It is the liturgical calendar of the Roman rite as it stands in the Missal and Breviary of 1962: the order of seasons, Sundays and feasts that decides which Mass and which Office are said each day. It is kept wherever the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated.

When does the traditional liturgical year begin?

On the First Sunday of Advent, the Sunday nearest the feast of St Andrew (30 November). In 2026 it falls on 29 November, and in 2027 on 28 November.

What do the classes of feasts mean?

Since 1960 every liturgical day is of the first, second, third or fourth class. The class decides precedence: when two celebrations coincide, the higher is celebrated and the lower is commemorated or omitted. A Sunday of Advent or Lent, for example, outranks every saint's feast except the Immaculate Conception.

When are the Ember Days in 2026 and 2027?

The next Ember Days are 16, 18 and 19 December 2026, in Advent. In 2027 they fall on 17, 19 and 20 February (Lent), 19, 21 and 22 May (Pentecost), 22, 24 and 25 September, and 15, 17 and 18 December (Advent).

Is the 1962 calendar different from the modern Catholic calendar?

Yes. The traditional calendar keeps Septuagesima, the octave of Pentecost, the Ember Days and Christ the King on the last Sunday of October, and it does not include saints canonized after 1958. Many feasts also have a different date or rank in the reformed calendar of 1969.

Where can I find a traditional Catholic calendar for 2026?

Printed ordos and calendars published by traditional communities give the whole year day by day. Online, our liturgical calendar shows the coming days according to the 1962 books, and the Iter Fidei app carries the full year, with each day's feast, class and color and its Mass and Office.

How do I know which Mass is said on a given day?

Look up the day in the calendar: the higher-ranking of the temporal and sanctoral celebrations gives the Mass, with any lower feast added as a commemoration. Every Proper of that Mass, from the Introit to the Postcommunion, follows from it, and a hand missal (the Latin Mass missal) prints them all. The daily 1962 missal on your phone follows this calendar and opens on the Mass of the day.

The Iter Fidei app carries the traditional calendar of 1962, with the feast, class and color of every day and the Mass and Divine Office that go with it, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Missale Romanum and Breviarium Romanum, editiones typicae 1962; John XXIII, motu proprio Rubricarum instructum and the Code of Rubrics (Rubricae generales, 1960); Pius XI, encyclical Quas primas (1925).