The privilege of the traditional Ember Days (The Roman Liturgy)
Fasting on the Ember Days is a special feature of the Roman Liturgy and the traditional Mass, going back to St Peter and ancient Rome. See their history, and importance for vocations and our day.
Four times a year, the Roman Liturgy marks the Ember Days – three days of fasting and penance.
The Jews also observed something similar, fasting on the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months (Tammuz, Av, Tishrei and Teves – and July, August, October and January respectively). These fasts marked the following events:
Shiva Asa BeTammuz (17th Tammuz): Moses’ breaking the tablets of the Law and the breaching of the Walls of Jerusalem by both Rome and Babylon (apparently on the same calendar date)
Tisha B’Av (9th Av): The destruction of the Temple by Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar) and by Titus – as well as God’s decree that the generation of Israelites in the desert would not enter the Promised Land (because they balked at the account of Joshua’s spies). It was apparently also the date of the defeat of the false Messias Bar Kokchba, and of several other difficulties for the Jewish people (such as their expulsion from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1290).
Tzom Gedaliah (3rd or 4th Tishrei, the day after Rosh Hashana): The death of Godolias (Gedaliah) the Governor and the dispersal of the remaining Jews in the Holy land while most were in exile in Babylon.
Asarah B’Tevet (10th Tevet): The captives with Ezechiel hearing about the destruction of the Temple1 – as well as the translating of the Septuagint (lamented by some of the Rabbis) and the death of Ezra the Scribe.
However, as interesting as these parallels are, the Church – and particularly the Roman Church – marks the Ember days at different times of the year, and for different reasons.
History and Seasons
We can note this from their name. “Ember” is a corruption of the Latin tempora (times) and the fasts are called “Quattuor Tempora” in Latin – meaning “the four times.” They are linked to the four seasons:
Advent (Winter – for seeding)
Lent (Spring)
Pentecost (Summer – for the harvest)
September (Autumn – for the wine vintage)
More precisely, they fall on the Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays:
Following the feast of St Lucy (13 Dec)
In the first week of Lent
In the Pentecost Octave
Following the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 Sep)
These dates are summarised in two quaint folklore rhymes:
Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucie.
Or more dramatically:
Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood and Lucie.
(Along with these rhymes, I have included some more folklore about the Ember Days at the bottom of this piece.)
There is some confusion now, following a reform of the calendar by John XXIII, on how this should be calculated. Sometimes, John XXIII’s changes place the Autumn Ember Days a week after they would have been previously.
However, even the modern Vatican, when instituting the calendar for the Anglican Ordinariates, reverted to the old method of calculating the date of the Autumn Ember Days.
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Originally, it seems that there were only three sets of Ember Days, in Summer, Autumn and Winter, with the fourth days already in force by the fifth century at the latest. In any case, the Spring Ember Days are always already in Lent, as Dom Prosper Guéranger explains:
We must remember that in the spring, these Days always come in the first week of Lent, a period already consecrated to the most rigorous fasting and abstinence, and that consequently they could add nothing to the penitential exercises of that portion of the year.2
The immediate and historic purpose may have been imploring God’s blessing on the agricultural cycle, through the observance of fasting and penance. The Catholic Encyclopaedia gives the follow possible explanation:
The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.
The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class.
At the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding; hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales.
The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose.3
As this section suggests, marking these fasts is a very particularly Roman practice.
“Before Gelasius (492-496) the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by the Caralovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan.
“The Eastern Church does not know them.”4
Mention of St Augustine of Canterbury should remind Englishmen that the Ember Days were a part of our nation’s life from the very earliest stages.
The Liber Pontificalis (ninth century) ascribes them to Pope Callistus (217-222), but Merhsman states that they are probably earlier.5
However, while their observation is quintessentially Roman, several significant authorities hold that they are actually apostolic in origin. Guéranger writes:
“Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Rabanus Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers.”6
Given their Roman nature, presumably this refers to St Peter in particular. But whether they were instituted by the Apostles, or are simply the ancient customs of the Roman people sanctified by the Church, or both – observing the Ember Days is a particular privilege of Roman Catholics, of the Latin Rite.
It is a great shame that the observation of these ancient fast days has come to be seen as a foible or irrelevancy today, even by some traditionalists.
The same could be applied to the season of Lent and the vigils of the key feasts, which (with the Ember Days) St Thomas points out as the three periods of fasting for the Roman Church.
Opportunity to review our lives
Fasting is a commandment of the natural law, and as we just saw, the Church codifies this with positive ecclesiastical law. Josef Pieper writes:
“[W]e read in Aquinas, ‘universal teacher’ of the Church, that fasting is a commandment of the natural law, quite specifically intended for the average Christian.
“At this point it is important to recall that for St Thomas, the ‘natural law’ is the fundamental source of obligation. the natural moral law is the ultimate ‘ought,’ given and established directly in the nature of created reality, and as such endowed with supreme binding power.
“Consequently, the fasting regulations go back to this fundamental obligation, and constitute only a more accurately defined form, modified according to temporal circumstances and prevailing customs.”7
One key aim of such fasting is to be able to see clearly – specifically, to be able to see reality, the order of reason, and things as they really are. It is a commonplace that all forms of intemperance prevent us from seeing clearly, and blind us to reality and to reason. Fasting is part of the attempt to undo this deleterious effect.
For what purpose, precisely?
As well as sanctifying the seasons and the agricultural year, the Ember Day periods give us the opportunity to reflect on the last three months.
This is our opportunity to do some penance for the sins which we committed during this time – and also to do some penance in thanksgiving for the various blessings of these months.
The Ember Days are an opportunity to think about where we are now.
They also give us a chance to think about the next three months. What do we want to achieve in this time, and where do we want to be? What sins do we not want to be expiating the next time the fasts come around?
These three days are perhaps a good time to make the first and second exercises in St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, and to place ourselves at the foot of the cross with the following questions:
What have I done for Christ?
What am I doing for Christ?
What ought I do for Christ?
Pope St Leo the Great on the Ember Days
Fasting is good for us, in all sorts of ways. Pieper adds that without fasting, no-one who is not already perfect is unable to preserve “that inner order by virtue of which the turbulence of sensuality is kept in check and the spirit liberated so that it may soar into the zone of its appropriate fulfilment and satisfaction.”8
The Roman Liturgy itself gives us the following texts from Pope St Leo the Great, particularly for the Advent Ember Days, but with application for each of the four:
“Dearly beloved brethren, with the care which becometh us as the shepherd of your souls, we urge upon you the rigid observance of this December Fast. The month of December hath come round again, and with it this devout custom of the Church.
“The fruits of the year, which is drawing to a close, are now all gathered in, and we most meetly offer our abstinence to God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And what can be more useful than fasting, that exercise by which we draw nigh to God, make a stand against the devil, and overcome the softer enticements of sin?
“Fasting hath ever been the bread of strength. From abstinence proceed pure thoughts, reasonable desires, and healthy counsels. By voluntary mortifications the flesh dieth to lust, and the soul is renewed in might. But since fasting is not the only mean whereby we get health for our souls, let us add to our fasting works of mercy. Let us spend in good deeds what we take from indulgence. Let our fast become the banquet of the poor.
“Let us defend the widow and serve the orphan; let us comfort the afflicted and reconcile the estranged; let us take in the wanderer and succour the oppressed; let us clothe the naked and cherish the sick. And may every one of us that shall offer to the God of all goodness this Advent sacrifice of fasting and alms be by Him fitted to receive an eternal reward in His heavenly kingdom!
“We fast on Wednesday and Friday; and there is likewise a Vigil on Saturday at the Church of St. Peter, that by his good prayers we may the more effectually obtain what we ask for, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, God, world without end. Amen.”9
When preaching at the Autumn Ember Days, the same holy Pontiff emphasised the importance of corporate and communal penance:
“Although it be lawful for each one of us to chastise his body, by self-imposed punishments, and restrain, with more or less severity, the concupiscences of the flesh, which war against the spirit,—yet, need is, that, on certain days, there be celebrated a general fast by all.
“Devotion is all the more efficacious and holy, when, in works of piety, the whole Church is engaged in them, with one spirit and one soul. Everything, in fact, that is of a public character, is, to be preferred to what is private; and it is plain, that so much the greater is the interest at stake, when the earnestness of all is engaged upon it.
“As for individual efforts, let each one keep up his fervor in them; let each one, imploring the aid of divine protection, take to his own self the heavenly armor, wherewith to resist the snares laid by the spirits of wickedness;—but, the soldier of the Church,—(the soldier that has the spirit of the Church,—ecclesiasticus miles), though he may act bravely in his own private combats (specialibus præliis), yet will he fight, more safely, and more successively, when he shall confront the enemy in a public engagement; for in that public engagement, he has not only his own valor to trust to, but, under the leadership of a King who can never be conquered, he is in the battle fought by all his fellow-soldiers, and, by being in their company and ranks, he has a fellowship of mutual aid.”10
Another year, he preached on the same occasion:
“God’s people never is so powerful, as when the hearts of all the Faithful join together in the unity of holy obedience, and when, in the Christian camp, there is one and the same preparation made by all, and one and the same bulwark covering us all. […]
“Let us raise up our hearts, withdraw from worldly occupations, and steal some time for furthering our eternal goods. […]
“The most plenary remission of sin is obtained, when there is the whole Church in the like prayer, and the like confession; for, if the Lord promises, that when two or three shall, with a holy and pious unanimity, agree to ask Him anything whatsoever, it shall be granted to them, (Matthew 18:19-20) —what is there, that can be refused to a people of many thousands, who are all alike engaged in observing one and the same practice of religion, and are, with one common accord, praying with one and the same spirit?
“In the eyes of God, my dearly beloved, it is a great and precious sight, when all Christ’s people are earnest at the same offices; and that, without any distinction, men and women of every grade and order, are all working together with one heart.
“To depart from evil and do good, (Psalm 33:15) that is the one and same determination of all. They all give glory to God for the works he achieves in his servants. They all unite in returning hearty thanks to the loving Giver of all blessings. The hungry are fed; the naked are clad; the sick are visited; and no one seeketh his own profit, but that of others. […]
“Let us, then, embrace this blessed solidity of holy unity, and with one agreement of the same good will, let us enter upon this solemn Fast.”11
This aspect of communal penance as a means of obtaining the common good points us to a final element of the Ember Days beyond the consecration of the seasons and the agricultural cycles.
That element, so relevant in our time, is the conferring Holy Orders.
Conclusion – The Ember Days, Holy Orders and Vocations
All this talk of agriculture should direct our mind to the spiritual harvest, for which Christ tells us to pray for God to send labourers.
St Thomas Aquinas writes:
“Again it is the custom in the Church for Holy orders to be conferred every quarter of the year […] and then both the ordainer, and the candidates for ordination, and even the whole people, for whose good they are ordained, need to fast in order to make themselves ready for the ordination.
“Hence it is related (Luke 6:12) that before choosing His disciples our Lord "went out into a mountain to pray": and Ambrose commenting on these words says: ‘What shouldst thou do, when thou desirest to undertake some pious work, since Christ prayed before sending His apostles?’”12
One can see vestiges of the link with the ordinations in the Ember Saturday liturgies across the year, in which a given order was conferred between the readings. Guéranger suggests that for a long time, December was the only time in which Holy Orders were conveyed in Rome – and indeed, the Ember Saturday in Advent has seven instead of six readings.
As we saw above, Pope St Leo said that the prayer and penance offered by the whole Church on the Ember Days and other such days is especially efficacious with God.
In this time we are facing, there is no doubt that we need to pray that the Lord sends labourers to the harvest, and shepherds to sheep.
We should pray that he sends us priests, many priests, and many holy priests – and we should pray and do penance for the priests that we do have.
And to any young Catholic men who are of sound mind and of good physical and moral health:
Put aside any navel-gazing of modern vocational discernment and waiting for an internal voice to appear. It’s wasting your time.
Many of us have known men and women who spend years in the public discernment culture, and become the protagonists in their own dramatic soap opera. Sometimes they even have a romantic interest in tow. None of this is conducive to anything at all. In any case, the vocation is primarily discerned in the seminary or in the monastery, not out of it.
Such young men are encouraged to get a hold of the book Religious Vocation: An Unnecessary Mystery by Fr Richard Butler, and – if the conditions are possible for you, take some actual steps to go to seminary. The same applies to the religious life.
Contrary to what you may be told, there is no shame in leaving the seminary or monastery if it’s decided that you do not have a vocation.
And also contrary to what you may be told, marriage is by no means a life of leisure or a way of avoiding sacrifice.
There is no way of avoiding sacrifice in this life. So, if you can try a vocation, then do so.
And in the meantime, let’s hear again Pieper’s words about fasting, and apply them to the observation of the Ember Days:
“Hilaritas mentis – cheerfulness of heart. Christian dogma links this notion most closely to the primal form of asceticism, fasting. This connection is based on the New Testament, on the Lord's admonition, proclaimed by the Chrchu every year at the beginning of Lent: ‘When you fast, do shew it by gloomy looks!’ (Matt. 6, 16). […]
“Cheerfulness of heart, however, is the mark of selflessness. By this sign and seal one is sure to recognize that hypocrite and all manner of tense self-involvement are done away with.”13
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On the subject of the blindness and absurdity – often caused by intemperance – and the need to see and submit to reality as it really is, see below and share with friends:
Also see our full series on The Roman Liturgy
Amusing Folklore about the Ember Days
With a hat-tip to Tim Goodwin over at Almanac.com, the following maxims and superstitions are found in Edwin Miller Fogel’s Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans:
11 – Persons born on Ember days can see ghosts.
571 – If you wash on the Wednesday nearest an Ember day and are taken sick, you will never get well.
950 – Grain will be high price if the Ember days come late in the month.
1195 – Rain on an Ember day is followed by three weeks of rain.
1196 – The weather three days before Ember day foretells the weather for the next quarter.
1305 – You must not butcher beef on an Ember day, but you may cut it up.
1306 – Washing on an Ember day is unlucky.
1307 – Never cure meat on an Ember day.
1308 – Never slaughter any cattle on an Ember day.
1309 – You will become sick if you do any washing on an Ember day.
1310 – If you wash on an Ember day a head of cattle will die.
1311 – If you do washing on an Ember day none of your cattle will die before the next Ember day.
1312. As many cattle will die during the year as are slaughtered on any Ember day.
St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, Q147 A5.
Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, for Wednesday of Ember Week, Advent.
Mershman, F. (1909). Ember Days. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05399b.htm
Ibid.
Ibid.
Guéranger, Ember Days, Advent.
Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues, pp 180-1
Ibid. 181
Reading IV-VI, Third Sunday of Advent
Guéranger, Ember Days of September
St. Leo the Great, Sermon iii, De Jeun Sept. Mensis. Ibid.
St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, Q147 A5.
Pieper 184-5.