Everything You Need to Know about the Ember Days

In our home, the commemoration of the Embertides are a carry over from my husband's and my college days when I was an Anglo-Catholic (Anglican, Church of England in America). Anglicans follow a form of the Old or Pre-Vatican II Calendar like those under the Pastoral Provision or Personal Ordinariate. It is similar to 1962 calendar followed by Roman Catholic parishes that celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.

Though no longer on the books in the New Calendar as Holy Days of Obligation, and their official practice left solely to the discretion of each regional Bishop's Conference, they were a requirement for all healthy Catholics until 1966. Now In recent years, the Ember Days have been recommended by Bishops for observance again as Holy Days of Opportunity, for example, Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas, Bishop Zubik of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Bishop Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

What are the Ember Days?

Despite their title, these days have nothing to do with fire at all. Rather, their English name is an alteration over time of the original Latin, Quatuor Tempora, meaning "four times." In England they were called Quatember then shortened to just Ember.

The Ember Days are sets of 3 penitential days put aside at the start of each natural season for prayer, fasting, abstinence, and thanksgiving. They are a time to consecrate each season to God, show gratitude for his creation, and offer sacrifice for the intentions of His blessing for a bountiful harvest and its proper use.

As we pray to God for bounty in the current season, it is fitting that we also pray for the harvest of souls and the increase of the workers in that vineyard, vocations and holy Priests. This discipline harkens back to Matthew 9:37-38 where Christ asks us to pray for vocations when he says, “…The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Drawing on the existing Roman practice of quarterly fasting for the intention of a plentiful harvest, the early 3rd century Pope Callixtus I instituted within the Church these four times of fasting for greater vocations. In the early 5th century Pope Leo the Great believed that the Ember Days went back to at least the apostles and perhaps the Jewish custom of fasting four times a year. Later, in the late 5th century, Pope Gelasius I required that all ordinations, to any of the seven Holy Orders, take place on Ember Saturdays. This remained the case until Vatican II. We can see the connection between fasting, prayer, and then ordination through the example the Apostles in Acts 13:3, “Then they, fasting and praying, and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away." Finally, Pope Gregory VII set the specific days of the week and feast days that each Embertide follows for the universal Church in the 11th century. 

"Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie."

When are the Ember Days?

The Embertides are once a season and always fall on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after a specific feast day.  When the corresponding feast day lands on a Wednesday, the Ember Days are bumped to the next week. The Seasonal Ember Days mirror the Early Church's typical fasting each week on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These weekly days of fasting corresponded to the 3 original Station Churches where Mass was said in Rome during each week: St. Mary Major, the Basilica of the Apostles, and St. Peter in the Vatican.

+ Wednesday is in remembrance of Judas’ betrayal of Christ.

+ Friday is in remembrance of the Passion and Crucifixion.

+ Saturday is in remembrance of Jesus' time in the tomb.

+ Thursday is skipped to honor Maundy Thursday and institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

 Wednesday and Saturday are days of fasting and partial abstinence while Friday is a day of fasting and full abstinence.

+ On days of Fasting one full meal and 2 collations (snacks) are permitted.

+ On days of Full Abstinence no meat is permitted.

+ On days of Partial Abstinence meat is permitted at one meal.

+ Fasting is for those 18-59.

+ Abstinence is for those 14 and older.

"Lenti + Penti + Cruci + Luci"

Winter or Advent Ember Days are after the Feast of St. Lucy (December 13th) and give thanks for the olives that make holy oils for Unction. 

Spring or Lenten Ember Days are after Ash Wednesday (moveable, February 4th-March 10th) and give thanks for the flowers and bees that make blessed candles as in for Baptism and upon the alter. 

Summer or Whit Ember Days are after the Solemnity of Pentecost (50 days after Easter) and give thanks for the wheat used to make the Eucharist hosts.

Autumn or Michaelmas Ember Days are after the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) and the 3rd Sunday of September. They give thanks for the grapes that make wine for the Precious Blood of Christ.

Typically the Ember Days are only bumped a week when the feast they are tied to, Roodmas, St. Lucy Day etc., lands on a Wednesday.

However, the Autumn Ember Days are unique in their scheduling. With the 1960 revisions to the breviary rubrics and the newly instituted system of counting Sundays from August to December, Pope John XXIII added that the September Ember Days should not only follow the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross as they had historically done, but also fall after the 3rd Sunday of September. The other sets of Ember Days were already fixed to specific weeks of Advent, Lent, and Pentecost. This stipulation helps the Michaelmas Embertide fall closer to the actual change of season in certain years and usually it does _not_ cause any change from the traditional dates. 2014 was the last year it was an issue, as it will be in 2020.

In contrast, for members of Ordinariate parishes the historic dates for the Autumn Ember Day are always kept. The calendar of the Pastoral Provision offered by Pope St. John Paul II, now referred to as the Personal Ordinariate since Pope Benedict XVI, was not recognized by the Church until 1980. And since until that time and beyond this group used their own Breviary, it did not include the clarification added by Pope John XXIII. Like with their permission for married priests, the Ordinariate’s exception to use their calendar allows for the marking of the Michaelmas Embertide on the historic days by their select group of very few parishes.

"Lucy, Ashes, Dove, and Cross"

Commemorating the Ember Days at Home

For our family, the seasonal Ember Days are like Little Lents, an opportunity to reset and reorder our affections toward Christ at the beginning of each quarter through the prescribed prayer, sacrifice, and thanksgiving. We default to our usual family Lenten disciplines of no secular music and other media, etc. This idea is also reflected in the violet vestments worn at Mass on these days, with the exception of the Whit Ember Days because they fall in the Octave of Pentecost when it is customary for red to be donned. The Thursdays of Embertides, however, are given a different character in our home to highlight their separation from the penitential days of the week. As part of that, meat is sure to be on the menu! 

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When meal planning for these days, an easy connection is to draw from the list of crops for which the Ember days show thanksgiving:

+ Winter Olives and Oil 

+ Spring Honey from the bees

+ Golden Summer Wheat

+ Rich Autumn Grapes for Wine. 

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Another fun tie-in is Japanese tempura. It is thought that tempura was inspired in part by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries when their word for the ember days, “tempora,” was associated with their request for meals of fish on those days. 

Supper is usually when we pray the collect and read the scriptures from the Mass (the Mass Propers) for each specific day. You can find them here:

For the Winter or Advent Embertide:

​Propers for Ember Wednesday of Advent

Propers for Ember Friday of Advent

Propers for Ember Saturday of Advent

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For the Spring or Lenten Embertide:

Propers for Ember Wednesday of Lent

Propers for Ember Friday of Lent

Propers for Ember Saturday of Lent

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For the Summer or Whit Embertide:

​Propers for Ember Wednesday of Whisuntide

​Propers for Ember Friday of Whisuntide​

Propers for Ember Saturday of Whisuntide

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For the Autumn or Michaelmas Embertide:

​Propers for Ember Wednesday of September

Propers for Ember Friday of September

Propers for Ember Saturday of September

Pope Leo the Great wrote at least seven short sermons for the Ember Days and we like to read one of them as part of our afternoon Literature Hours. They are online here:

For the Winter or Advent Embertide:

​On the Fast of the 10th Month, I

On the Fast of the 10th Month

On the Fast of the 10th Month, VI

On the Fast of the 10th Month, VIII

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For the Summer or Whit Embertide:

On the Whitsuntide Fast, I

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For the Autumn or Michaelmas Embertide:

On the Fast of the 7th Month, III

On the Fast of 7th Month, V

On the Fast of the 7th Month, VI

The Ember Days are also an appropriate time for learning about creation and the seasons as well as when we focus on our seasonal work. Even if you don't live on a farm, I'm sure there are unique outdoor chores that every family could schedule for the Embertides. Additionally, we like to use these times as a reminder to discuss the connection between prayer and physical labor. The Benedictine motto of "Ora et Labora" (prayer and work) is a tenant we bring up often to our sons and St. Benedict's Rule for his monastery is a good place to start on that subject. The brief text can be read in full here and here. 

Aside from the expected prayer, fasting, and abstinence, in my old diocese the Ember days were also when our clerics wrote update letters to their bishop. This is a tradition we like to keep. The address of your bishop should be easy to locate on your diocesan website. 

Lastly, a simple project during Ember weeks is to make egg tempera paint with food coloring, a tiny bit of dish soap, and an egg yolk for each color. This paint is great for windows and is the type of paint still used in the creation of religious icons. 

Pax,

Genie