Our hearts should be filled with joy at the thought of the great love and care Our Heavenly Father shows for His Children. While there has certainly always been the component of penance for our sins and a resolve to do better in the coming season, the focus of thanksgiving for the gifts received in the previous season and the prayer of petition for a fruitful coming season is a very important part of the Ember days. Unlike the somber fasts of Lent, as we prepare for and participate in Christ’s suffering on the cross, the Ember days give us an opportunity to fast with greater joy. While the fast is similar to that of Lent, there is a different focus to our prayers. Those who are unable for health or age reasons to participate in the full fast should perform some other penance. On Ember Friday the traditional practice of abstinence from meat is observed at all meals. On Ember Wednesday and Ember Saturday meat is be allowed in the main meal only. The basic observance of fasting on Ember days is similar to Ash Wednesday or Good Friday - one primary meal and two lesser meals. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Basil the Great says of fasting:įasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful fasting makes lawgivers wise. "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make a sacrifice, 'O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'" St. It is one of many ways we can heed the words of Our Lady of Fatima: While no longer mandatory, it is nonetheless beneficial to voluntarily practice the observation of Ember days each year. It might be easier to just remember “Lucy, Ashes, Dove, and Cross.” The Autumn Ember days fall the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the feast of the Holy Cross on September 14th. The Summer Ember days fall on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Pentecost. The Spring Ember days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday the week after Ash Wednesday, in the first full week of lent. The Winter Ember days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following the feast of St. The dates of the Ember days each year can be figured from the dates of these feasts. It is translated: Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost are when the quarter holidays follow. This old rhyme was long used to aid in remembering the dates of the Ember days. When are the Ember Days? Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria. Pope Gelasius, who was pope from the year 492-496, speaks of the Ember days (or in the Latin, the Quatuor Tempora, or four- times.) We know of their practice in Rome at this time, and the practice spread throughout the Church until they were officially prescribed by Pope Saint Gregory VII during his pontificate, 1073-1085. Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts therefore love truth and peace. Historically, it is likely that the Ember days were celebrated from the earliest days of the Church – after all, it is a tradition adapted from the Old Testament: Ember days are three days at the beginning of each of the four seasons that the Church has traditionally set aside as days of fasting, abstinence, and prayer in thanksgiving for the blessings of the last season and in petition for the next.
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