ember days

The term ‘Ember Days‘ comes from the Latin, Quatuor Tempora, meaning four times. At the beginning of the four seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year, the Ember Days have been instituted by the Church to thank God for blessings obtained during the past year and to implore further graces for the new season. They fall:

1) after the First Sunday of Lent for Spring,

2) after Whitsunday for Summer,

3) after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14 for Autumn,

4)  after the Feast of St. Lucy on December 13 for Winter.

Ember Days are days of fast and abstinence. On Wednesday and Saturday, we observe partial fast and abstinence, which means two small meatless meals, and one full meal that can include meat. On Friday, we may take two small meals and one full meal, but observe total abstinence even at the main meal.

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were days of particular devotion in the early Church; Wednesday, as recalling the betrayal of Our Lord, and Friday in memory of His Passion, Saturday was later added to these days of prayer and penance as a continuation of Friday, and as far back as the second century they were set apart as Stational days, that is, as days of special religious service and fasting.

The observance of the Ember Days dates back to early Roman antiquity, they are older than Advent. Pope Leo I (c.450) has left a series of beautiful sermons for these days. Their purpose is to thank God for the fruits of the earth and other gifts of nature, to teach moderation in their use, and to assist the needy. From the time of Pope Gelasius (492-496) in the fifth century,  it has been the practice to confer the sacred steps of the priesthood on the Saturdays of Ember weeks.Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) prescribed the Ember Days as days of fast and abstinence for the whole Catholic Church.

Ember days are an ancient observation which are fixed on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in each of the four seasons of the year. Early in summer, in Pentecost week, the wheat was harvested. In order to thank God for this harvest, at the Offertory of the Mass a part (a tithe, a tenth part) was offered for the benefit of the Church, the priests, and the poor. In like manner, it was customary to offer tithes of the other harvest in their respective seasons. When the grapes were harvested in September, there was another week of thanks, and similar offerings were made in December when the olive crop was gathered. The fruits of these harvests, wheat, wine, and oil, have been put to the highest possible use in the liturgy of the Church, for she uses them sacramentally, that is, as external signs of the inner grace imparted through her sacraments.

She uses bread and wine at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and at Holy Communion; she uses oil at Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Order, Extreme Unction, and for many of her sacramentals (baptismal water, blessing of bells, churches, chalices, etc.). Later, a fourth week of thanksgiving was added in the spring, when it is but natural for man to thank God for the awakening of nature, the budding of the first flowers, and the  lengthened hours of daylight. Thus there was a portion to each season of the year a week of thanksgiving for the gifts of nature with which God has so generously enriched the world.

On Ember Days we thank God four times a year for all the gifts of nature, especially for those used by the Church in her sacraments and sacramentals. We also thank Him for the sacraments, administered to us under the external signs of these gifts of nature. Finally, on these days we pray for the priests, usually ordained at this time, who administer the sacraments to us.

“With Christ Through the Year.” Rev. Bernard Strasser, O.S.B., Bruce Publishing Company, 1947.

“The Church’s Year of Grace.” Rev. Pius Parsch, The Liturgical Press, 1953.

“Blessed Be God: A Complete Catholic Prayer Book.”  Charles J. Callan, OP, S.T.M, P. J. Kenedy & Sons.