separateurCreated with Sketch.

Here are all the Old Testament prophets who have feast days

ABRAHAM AND SARAH
Philip Kosloski - published on 05/09/24
In the Roman Rite a variety of Old Testament prophets and holy men and women are celebrated on particular days in the liturgical calendar.

While the canonization process in the Roman Catholic Church did not become formalized until the 16th century, Catholics were in the habit of calling upon the intercession of various Old Testament figures since the very beginning of Christianity.

In the first few centuries local churches would record names of martyrs and other holy men and women and put them on a calendar for future remembrance.

In the Roman Church, this became known as the Roman Martyrology.

According to Fr. Thomas Kocik in an article for Adoremus, over time this martyrology was expanded to include more saints than those celebrated in the local church:

Among the general martyrologies the best known is the Hieronymian, so called because it was, albeit falsely, attributed to St. Jerome (347-420). Compiled in northern Italy in the mid-fifth century and revised in Gaul around 600, the Hieronymian Martyrology as it has reached us combines a list of martyrs and popes venerated at Rome (dating to 354), a series of local martyrologies of Gaul, some literary sources such as Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History (early fourth century), and general martyrologies of Italy, Africa, and the Eastern Churches. It consists of some ten thousand saints, in most cases with no further information than the place where they were commemorated.

The Roman Martyrology has been revised and trimmed down throughout the centuries (most recently in 2004), but it still contains specific days that commemorate Old Testament saints.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms this tradition, “The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions” (CCC 61).

Here is a list of all those Old Testament figures who have been assigned a feast day in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.

These feasts are not celebrated publicly on the General Calendar of the Roman Rite, but are still listed on the official Roman Martyrology of the Vatican (published in 2004). In fact, according to Kocik, "On ferial days and on days that admit celebration of the optional memorial of a saint, one may celebrate the Office and Mass of any saint ascribed to that day in the Martyrology."

1Prophet Malachi - January 14

2Prophets Habakkuk and Micah - January 15

3Prophet Amos - March 31

4Prophet Ezekiel - April 10

5Prophet Jeremiah - May 1

6Prophet Job - May 10

7Prophet Elisha - June 14

8Prophets Hosea and Haggai - July 4

9Prophet Isaiah - July 6

10Prophets Joel and Esdras - July 13

11Prophet Elijah - July 20

12Prophet Daniel - July 21

13Prophet Samuel - August 20

14Prophet Moses - September 4

15Prophet Zechariah - September 6

16Prophet Jonah - September 21

17Patriarch Abraham - October 9

18Prophet Obadiah - November 19

19Prophet Nahum - December 1

20All the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Adam - December 24

21Prophet and King David - December 29

Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.

banner image
Top 10
See More
Newsletter
Get Aleteia delivered to your inbox. Subscribe here.