holy obligation
Divinely mandated responsibility
A holy obligation is a duty considered sacred or divinely commanded—something one must do as a matter of religious or moral imperative.
The phrase often appears in religious contexts describing duties to God or community: Charity is a holy obligation in many faiths.
It extends to secular use for duties treated with similar gravity: He regarded voting as a holy obligation.
- sacred dutyMorally binding commitment
- sacred vowReligiously binding promise
- covenantBinding formal pledge
- solemn promiseFormal binding commitment
- vowSolemn personal commitment
blood oath · commandment · devotion · solemn · binding · reverence · oath · sworn duty · consecrated · divine mandate · moral imperative · piety · ritual · religious observance · faithful · act of faith · moral duty · tithe
- church calendarAdvent, Easter Sunday, Lent, Christmas, Pentecost
holy obligationfree choice
Unrestricted decision-making power
whim · afterthought · passing fancy · take-it-or-leave-it · voluntary action
holy obligationmortal sin
Grace-destroying spiritual offense
sacrilege · desecration · cardinal sin · abomination · forbidden act
holy, holiness, unholy, oblige, obligate, obligated, obligating, obligation, obligations