{"id":1837,"date":"2018-09-20T20:52:16","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T00:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2018-09-20T20:52:16","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T00:52:16","slug":"the-history-of-the-ember-days-an-almost-lost-tradition-of-our-catholic-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/2018\/09\/the-history-of-the-ember-days-an-almost-lost-tradition-of-our-catholic-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"THE HISTORY OF THE EMBER DAYS – AN ALMOST LOST TRADITION OF OUR CATHOLIC FAITH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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History of the Ember Days<\/h2>\n
\/ Sep 19, 2018 09:23 am \/ Posted by Angelus Press \/<\/em><\/p>\n
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Ember Days – An Opportunity for Additional Sacrifice and Spiritual Growth<\/h2>\n
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Though ignored by many in the Roman Church today, this week is traditionally set aside in the year for honoring the Ember Days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Starting Wednesday, September 19, and continuing on Friday (September 21) and Saturday (September 22), the Roman Church celebrates the Ember Days. Though the contemporary Church no longer honors these days, traditionally they were designated as days of fasting and abstinence. Thankfully, many traditional Catholics, including those who attend chapels ministered by the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X, continue to honor these days.<\/p>\n

History of the Ember Days<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ember Days, which were historically kept four times during the liturgical year, have a venerable history. Here is the explanation from the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia.<\/p>\n

The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all\u00c2\u00a0prayer\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0fasting, was to thank\u00c2\u00a0God\u00c2\u00a0for the\u00c2\u00a0gifts\u00c2\u00a0of\u00c2\u00a0nature, to teach\u00c2\u00a0men\u00c2\u00a0to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the\u00c2\u00a0needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the\u00c2\u00a0heathens\u00c2\u00a0of\u00c2\u00a0Rome. The\u00c2\u00a0Romans\u00c2\u00a0were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class. At the beginning of the time for\u00c2\u00a0seeding\u00c2\u00a0and harvesting\u00c2\u00a0religious\u00c2\u00a0ceremonies\u00c2\u00a0were performed to implore the help of their\u00c2\u00a0deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a\u00c2\u00a0rich\u00c2\u00a0vintage (grapes\/wine), and in December for the\u00c2\u00a0seeding; hence their\u00c2\u00a0feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and\u00c2\u00a0feri vindimiales. The\u00c2\u00a0Church, when\u00c2\u00a0converting\u00c2\u00a0heathen\u00c2\u00a0nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a\u00c2\u00a0good\u00c2\u00a0purpose. At first the\u00c2\u00a0Church\u00c2\u00a0in\u00c2\u00a0Rome\u00c2\u00a0had\u00c2\u00a0fasts\u00c2\u00a0in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the\u00c2\u00a0priests. The\u00c2\u00a0“Liber Pontificalis”\u00c2\u00a0ascribes to\u00c2\u00a0Pope Callistus\u00c2\u00a0(217-222) a\u00c2\u00a0law\u00c2\u00a0ordering the\u00c2\u00a0fast, but probably it is older.\u00c2\u00a0Leo the Great\u00c2\u00a0(440-461) considers it an\u00c2\u00a0Apostolic\u00c2\u00a0institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but\u00c2\u00a0Gelasius\u00c2\u00a0(492-496) speaks of all four. This\u00c2\u00a0pope\u00c2\u00a0also permitted the conferring of\u00c2\u00a0priesthood\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0deaconship\u00c2\u00a0on the Saturdays of ember week–these were formerly given only at\u00c2\u00a0Easter. Before\u00c2\u00a0Gelasius\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0ember days were known only in\u00c2\u00a0Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into\u00c2\u00a0England\u00c2\u00a0by\u00c2\u00a0St. Augustine; into\u00c2\u00a0Gaul\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Germany\u00c2\u00a0by the Carlovingians.\u00c2\u00a0Spain\u00c2\u00a0adopted\u00c2\u00a0them with the\u00c2\u00a0Roman\u00c2\u00a0Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by\u00c2\u00a0St. Charles Borromeo\u00c2\u00a0into\u00c2\u00a0Milan. The\u00c2\u00a0Eastern Church\u00c2\u00a0does not\u00c2\u00a0know them. The present\u00c2\u00a0Roman\u00c2\u00a0Missal, in the\u00c2\u00a0formulary\u00c2\u00a0for the\u00c2\u00a0Ember\u00c2\u00a0days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from\u00c2\u00a0Scripture\u00c2\u00a0in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the\u00c2\u00a0Saturday\u00c2\u00a0in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve\u00c2\u00a0God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Keeping with Tradition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catholics who have access to the traditional liturgy outside of Sundays should make a special point to assist at Mass on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week. In addition to keeping the fasting and abstinence prescriptions on these days, the faithful should be attentive to the special collects and readings that are assigned on these days. Here, for instance, are the Collects from Wednesday, which properly capture the spirit of these days.<\/p>\n

May our frailty, we beseech Thee, O Lord, find support in the help of Thy mercy; so that what is marred by its own nature may be restored by Thy grace.<\/p>\n

O Lord, we beseech Thee, grant to Thy praying household that, as they fast from bodily food, they may also abstain mentally from sin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The latest from Angelus Press’ Blog View this in your browser Our Latest News History of the Ember Days \/ Sep 19, 2018 09:23 am \/ Posted by Angelus Press \/ Ember Days – An Opportunity for Additional Sacrifice and Spiritual Growth Though ignored by many in the Roman Church today, this week is traditionally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}