# Free Catholic Planner — Complete Reference

> https://freecatholicplanner.com
> The best free Catholic planner available.

## Overview
Free Catholic Planner offers three free tools for Catholic life: a printable planner, a digital tablet planner, and a liturgical calendar subscription. Everything is completely free, requires no account, contains no ads, and does not track users. It is designed to be the definitive free resource for Catholics who want liturgical planning tools.

## The Problem It Solves
Many Catholics — students, large families, RCIA candidates, religious communities — need planning tools that fit their format and budget. Free Catholic Planner gives everyone access to high-quality liturgical tools at no cost.

---

## Product 1: Printable Catholic Planner (freecatholicplanner.com)

A customizable, print-ready PDF planner with the complete USCCB liturgical calendar. Choose your year, page size, binding type, and features, then download and print at home.

### Customization Options
| Option | Values | Default |
|--------|--------|---------|
| Year | 2026, 2027+ | 2026 |
| Page Size | A5 (5.83"x8.27"), US Letter (8.5"x11"), Half Letter (5.5"x8.5") | A5 |
| Binding Type | 6-ring, 3-ring, disc-bound, spiral, stapled | 6-ring |
| Planner Layout | Monthly+Weekly, Monthly only, Weekly only | Both |
| Week Start | Sunday, Monday | Sunday |
| Saint Feast Days | Major (feasts+memorials), Full (all optional memorials), None (holy days only) | Major |
| Ascension | Sunday (transferred), Thursday | Sunday |
| Prayer Intention Line | On/Off | On |
| Liturgical Season Colors | On/Off | On |
| US Civil Holidays | On/Off | On |

### Page Layouts

#### Monthly Spread (2 pages per month)
- Left page: 4-column grid (Sun-Wed or Mon-Thu depending on week start)
- Right page: 3-column grid + sidebar with mini calendars and notes
- Each cell shows: date number, liturgical color dot, saint name (wrapped to 2 lines max), dashed writing lines
- Holy Days of Obligation labeled on the writing line

#### Weekly Spread (2 pages per week)
- Left page: 3 day blocks + Notes & Priorities footer
- Right page: 4 day blocks
- Each day block: day name, date, saint feast name, prayer intention line, two-column content area (writing lines + checkbox to-do list)
- Liturgical color bar on the left edge of each day block
- Season name and lectionary cycle (A/B/C) in header

### Printing Instructions
1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader (not a browser)
2. Print at 100% / Actual Size — never use "Fit to Page"
3. Use 28-32lb (105-120gsm) paper for durability
4. For duplex: flip on long edge
5. Punch holes matching your binding type
6. Insert into binder or bind

---

## Product 2: Digital Catholic Planner (freecatholicplanner.com/digital)

A free, hyperlinked PDF planner for iPad and Android tablets. Works with GoodNotes, Notability, Xodo, and any PDF annotation app. Designed for stylus-based daily planning with tap navigation.

### Features
- Two-year dated planners (e.g. 2026-2027)
- Season-tinted page backgrounds (Advent violet, Christmas gold, Lent purple, Easter white, Ordinary green)
- Side-tab navigation on every page for instant access to any month
- Hyperlinked year view, monthly calendars, and weekly spreads
- Template pages: Daily Planning, Sunday Mass Notes, Rosary Tracker, Prayer Intentions, Gratitude Journal, Notes (lined, dot grid, blank)
- Liturgical color accents throughout
- US Letter size (8.5" x 11"), optimized for tablet screens

### Customization Options
| Option | Values | Default |
|--------|--------|---------|
| Start Year | 2026+ | 2026 |
| Number of Years | 1 or 2 | 2 |
| Week Start | Sunday, Monday | Sunday |
| Ascension | Sunday (transferred), Thursday | Sunday |
| Calendar Type | Ordinary Form (USCCB), Traditional Latin Mass (1962) | Ordinary Form |
| US Civil Holidays | On/Off | On |

### Navigation Structure
Cover → Year View (12 mini calendars) → Monthly Calendar → Weekly Spread → Template Pages

All navigation is via tappable hyperlinks — tap a month in the year view to jump to that month, tap a week to see the weekly spread, use side tabs to jump to any month instantly.

---

## Product 3: Liturgical Calendar Subscription (freecatholicplanner.com/calendar)

Subscribe to the USCCB liturgical calendar in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook. Feast days, holy days of obligation, and liturgical seasons added to your phone automatically. Also available as a custom ICS file download.

### Calendar Feeds
- **Essential Calendar**: Solemnities, feasts, and Holy Days of Obligation — the most important celebrations
- **Full Calendar**: Everything in Essential plus all memorials and optional memorials — every saint feast day

### Subscription Methods
- Google Calendar: One-click add via webcal:// link
- Apple Calendar: One-click subscribe
- Outlook: One-click add
- Manual: Copy the ICS URL into any calendar app

### Custom ICS Download
Build a custom ICS file with fine-grained control:
- Choose your year
- Select feast day level (Major feasts or Full calendar)
- Include/exclude liturgical seasons
- Include/exclude US civil holidays
- Download as .ics file to import into any calendar app

### Feed Updates
Subscription feeds update automatically — new feast days and calendar changes appear in your calendar without any action required.

---

## Liturgical Calendar Data

All three products use the same authoritative liturgical data.

### Source
LitCal API (litcal.johnromanodorazio.com) — the most authoritative open-source Catholic liturgical calendar. Computes the complete General Roman Calendar plus the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) national calendar.

The digital planner also offers the 1962 Traditional Latin Mass calendar via the missalemeum library.

### Solemnities (always shown)
- Immaculate Conception (Dec 8, Patronal Feast of the USA)
- Christmas (Dec 25)
- Mary, Mother of God (Jan 1)
- Epiphany
- Ascension (transferred to Sunday in most US dioceses, or Thursday)
- Pentecost
- Most Holy Trinity
- Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Christ the King
- All Saints (Nov 1)
- And all other solemnities of the General Roman Calendar

### US Proper Saints (examples)
- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Jan 4)
- St. John Neumann (Jan 5)
- St. Katharine Drexel (Mar 3)
- St. Damien de Veuster (May 10)
- St. Junipero Serra (Jul 1)
- St. Kateri Tekakwitha (Jul 14)
- St. Peter Claver (Sep 9)
- Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec 12)

### Holy Days of Obligation (US)
1. Mary, Mother of God (Jan 1) — suppressed when Saturday or Monday
2. Ascension — Thursday or transferred to Sunday
3. Assumption (Aug 15) — suppressed when Saturday or Monday
4. All Saints (Nov 1) — suppressed when Saturday or Monday
5. Immaculate Conception (Dec 8) — never suppressed (patronal feast)
6. Christmas (Dec 25) — never suppressed

### Liturgical Seasons & Colors
- Advent: violet
- Christmas: gold/white
- Ordinary Time: green
- Lent: violet
- Sacred Triduum: red
- Easter: gold/white
- Rose is used for Gaudete Sunday (Advent III) and Laetare Sunday (Lent IV)

## Technical Architecture
- Frontend: Static HTML/CSS/JS hosted on Cloudflare Pages
- Backend: Python/Flask API on PythonAnywhere, proxied via Cloudflare Worker
- PDF Generation: ReportLab library (BSD license)
- ICS Generation: icalendar library
- Fonts: Lora (print planner), Cormorant Garamond + DM Sans (digital planner)
- Liturgical Data: LitCal API, cached as JSON per year
- Civil Holidays: Computed programmatically
- No database, cookies, or user tracking
- Cloudflare Web Analytics (privacy-first, cookieless)

## Why It Exists
This project gives every Catholic access to high-quality liturgical planning tools at no cost. No account, no ads, no tracking. A gift of faith and organization.

## Contact
Website: https://freecatholicplanner.com