The feast of the Immaculate Conception is our national patronal feast. Therefore, we are always required to celebrate it as a holy day of obligation in any year that it falls on a Monday through Saturday. The only exception is when December 8 falls on a Sunday, as it does this year. In those years we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Advent, which takes precedence over the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The observation of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to Monday; however, it is celebrated as a “feast” (i.e., without any obligation to attend Mass).