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The Ember Days are upon us. As the summer sun fades into fall, the Church offers an age-old tradition for marking the change: three days of fasting, abstinence, prayer, and gratitude.
Four times a year, on a Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, Catholics traditionally observed the Ember Days. The practice reaches deep into the history of the Western Church, and by the time of Pope Gregory VII in the 11th century, the four seasonal observances had been established throughout the West. Their purpose was simple: to thank God for the gifts of nature, to practice moderation in their use, and to remember those in need.
Each set of Ember Days follows both the natural and liturgical calendar. The Spring Ember Days come near the beginning of Lent; the Summer days follow Pentecost; the Fall days follow the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14; and the Winter days come during Advent. Agriculture was never far from the tradition: seedtime, harvest, vintage, and the changing seasons became occasions to recognize God as the giver of creation’s bounty.
For generations, Catholics were obliged to observe the Ember Days with fasting and abstinence. That obligation no longer exists. In their November 1966 statement, the U.S. bishops noted that Ember Days no longer obliged Catholics to fast and abstain, while encouraging the faithful to rediscover the older Christian instinct of a “fast before a feast” through voluntary self-denial, penitential prayer, and fasting.
Perhaps that makes the tradition especially worth recovering. A fast we freely choose can be something more than an obligation fulfilled.
Following the older, pre-1962 traditional reckoning associated with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross—a reckoning still observed in a number of Catholic communities—the Fall Ember Days this year are September 16, 18, and 19. Readers following the 1962 Roman Missal calendar, however, will find a different set of dates: September 23, 25, and 26. Three simple ways to observe them:
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FAST OR ABSTAIN
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In a way appropriate to you.
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PRAY IN GRATITUDE
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For one specific gift of this season.
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NOTICE CREATION
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Get outside. Soak in God’s glory.
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And while you have your calendar open, mark the Winter Ember Days now—December 16, 18, and 19 (these dates coincide under both reckonings this year).
Think of it as a joyful fast. The Ember Days do not need to be obligatory to be spiritually fruitful.
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