So, ember days were a big part of Catholic life for quite a while. The observance of ember days was later prescribed for the entire Latin Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085). That tradition of holding ordinations of ember Saturdays also continues today, and in addition, ember days have traditionally been days of prayer for vocations. Gelasius also started the practice of permitting the conferring of ordinations on ember Saturdays, which were formerly given only at Easter, The Catholic Encyclopedia records. The first record of the fasts for all four seasons being decreed comes in the writing of Pope Gelasius at the end of the fifth century.Īfter Gelasius, the practice spread beyond Rome. At first, the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September and December, but the exact days were not fixed. The purpose of their introduction, according to The Catholic Encyclopedia, was to thank God for the gifts of nature (hence their tie to the natural seasons), especially the crops used to make bread and wine for the Eucharist to teach people to make use of those gifts in moderation and to assist the needy.Įmber days also served as a response to the pagan festivals of Rome the days encouraged Christians to counter the excesses and debauchery of those festivals by, instead, fasting and praying. 13.Įmber days appear to be a very early Christian practice, first attested to as part of apostolic tradition by Pope Leo I in the fifth century. The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the feast of St.The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept.The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Pentecost.The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Ash Wednesday.The 12 total ember days throughout the year are:
The reason “ember” is associated with these days seems to be that the word is a corruption of the Latin phrase quatuor tempora, meaning four seasons.Įach of the four seasons of the year contains three ember days. And in fact, it’s the last ember day of 2022.īut what are ember days, and why do they exist?Įmber days are tied to the four seasons of the year. Saturday is an ember day, a day traditionally set aside for fasting and abstinence from meat. 17, is a special day in the Catholic Church, though relatively few Catholics probably realize it.
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