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Friday is an Ember Day

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By Catholic Cyber-Militia
Friday is what's called an "Ember Day."  That's a special day of prayer set aside by the Church for prayer and (optional) fasting.  Ember days come four times a year and consists of three days each (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday).  Part I provided an introduction.  Here is the conclusion of the article.

For the past week or so, I've been yammering about the need for prayer and fasting in preparation for the upcoming Amazon Synod.   Perhaps Ember Days are something that will have some broader interest to the readership.  It's a lovely devotion, and one that I hope to take up myself.
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Part II of the article by Fr. Arnauld Devillers, FSSP:



Why are they called “Ember Days”? The words have nothing to do with embers or ashes. It may be from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren, a circle or revolution; or more likely it may be a corruption of quatuor tempora through Dutch, Danish or German (Quatember).

What are the dates of Ember Days? They have fluctuated throughout history. The upcoming Ember Days of Lent were not originally linked to the first week of Lent but to the first week in March. Francis Mershman in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) affirms: “They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross).” This was expressed in the old English rhyme:

Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie.
Or even a shorter mnemonic: Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy.

Since the publishing of the Catholic Encyclopedia, the dates have changed again. According to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Missal (1962), the Advent Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the third Week of Advent and the September Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the third week of September. In the Ordinary Form, the dates for them must be determined by the Conference of Bishops (#46).

Ember Days remind us of a time when society was mostly rural. In our urban society, the connection between Ember Days and the cycle of sowing and harvest does not speak to most of us any longer. However, the association of Ember Days and ordinations could give a new purpose to Ember Days as voluntary days of penance by clergy and faithful together, to not only confess and atone for sins of the past but also to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and the sanctification of clergy. +
FSSP Ordination during Ember Days of Pentecost, 2018

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