What are the precepts (commandments) of the Church?

The Catholic Church gives her members five precepts — sometimes called the commandments of the Church — as the baseline of what it means to live as a practicing Catholic. The Catechism describes their purpose plainly: they are meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor (CCC 2041). They are not meant to be the ceiling of the Catholic life but its floor — a minimum threshold from which every Catholic is called to grow toward deeper holiness.

The first precept requires Catholics to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Sunday is the Lord's Day, commemorating the Resurrection of Christ, and gathering with the Christian community for the Eucharist is the central act of Catholic worship. Missing Mass on Sunday without a serious reason — illness, caring for a dependent, an unavoidable emergency — is considered a grave matter. The second precept requires confession of sins at least once a year. As the Catechism explains, this ensures preparation for the Eucharist through the sacrament of Reconciliation, continuing the work of conversion and forgiveness that began at Baptism.

The third precept calls every Catholic to receive Holy Communion at least during the Easter season (in the United States, from the First Sunday of Lent through Trinity Sunday). This guarantees, as a minimum, the reception of the Lord's Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy (CCC 2042). Easter is the most important feast of the Church year, and receiving the Eucharist then is the minimum expression of eucharistic communion with Christ and his Body.

The fourth precept asks Catholics to keep holy the holy days of obligation — in the United States these are the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1), the Ascension of the Lord, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15), All Saints Day (November 1), the Immaculate Conception (December 8), and the Nativity of the Lord, or Christmas (December 25). These days honor the principal mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, and the Catechism teaches that participation in Mass on them completes the Sunday observance (CCC 2043). The fifth precept requires observing the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence — in the United States, fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstaining from meat on those days and on the Fridays of Lent. These penitential practices, the Catechism says, prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart (CCC 2043).

Beyond these five, the Catechism notes that the faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities (CCC 2043). This is not a separate numbered precept, but a recognized obligation stated alongside the fifth. Supporting the Church — whether through a parish offertory, regular giving, or gifts to Catholic ministries — is part of belonging to and sustaining the community of faith. Taken together, the five precepts give Catholics a concrete, Church-defined minimum around the sacramental life: Sunday worship, regular confession, Easter Communion, feast-day observance, and seasonal penance.

It is worth remembering that the precepts set a floor, not a destination. A Catholic who does only the minimum is, in the Church's own image, still only at the threshold. The full call is to daily prayer, frequent Communion, deeper conversion, and acts of charity that flow from an interior life shaped by the Eucharist and the sacraments. If you want to explore that sacramental life more fully, you can find a Catholic Mass near you, check confession times at a parish, or learn more about the saints who show us what a life built on more than the minimum looks like.