Editor’s Note: Many Catholics today are unfamiliar with the tradition of Ember Days. The Church developed wonderful liturgies for these days. They are important days of prayer and penance. Yet after Vatican II, they were removed from the new order liturgical calendar. It is important for the Church to recover their practice. Two articles this week have that aim.
In 2023, the Autumn Ember Days take place on Wednesday (September 20), Friday (September 22) and Saturday (September 23). They are days of fast and abstinence. Even though the Church does not mandate them, Catholics can choose to faithfully keep them, as we encourage in The Fatima Center Calendar.
The Ancient Institution of Ember Days
Ember days are categorized by three elements: prayers for both thanksgiving and petition, penance in the form of fasting and abstinence, and ordinations. Like Rogation Days, Ember Days developed in the early life of the Church, assuming a form that would continue for centuries. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains:
“At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution.”[1]
By the time of Pope Gregory I, who died in 604 A.D., they were observed for all four seasons though the date of each of them could vary. In the Roman Synod of 1078 under Pope Gregory VII, they were uniformly established for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after December 13th (St. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Pentecost Sunday, and after September 14th (Exaltation of the Holy Cross).
While they were initially observed only in Rome, their observance quickly spread, as The Catholic Encyclopedia further adds:
“Before Gelasius the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by the Carlovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan. The Eastern Church does not know them. The present Roman Missal, in the formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve God.”[2]
Dom Prosper Guéranger adds that the institution of the Ember Days is further based on the fast ordered by God for the changing of the seasons in the Old Testament. Thus, the Church hallowed that fast and adopted it for the worship of the True God, thus fulfilling the Lord’s words that He came not to abolish but to complete (cf. Matthew 5:17) what was instituted in the Old Testament:
“We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Rabanus Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that the orientals do not observe this fast.”[3]
Spirituality of the Ember Days
The purpose of Ember Days is, in the words of The Catholic Encyclopedia, to “thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.” As a result, their focus differs from the focus of the Rogation Days, to which they are often compared. An article on Liturgies.net explains the separate, specific focus of Rogation Days as such:
“Rogation Days are the four days set apart to bless the fields and invoke God’s mercy on all of creation. The 4 days are April 25, which is called the Major Rogation (and is only coincidentally the same day as the Feast of St. Mark); and the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, which are called the Minor Rogations. Traditionally, on these days, the congregation marches the boundaries of the parish, blessing every tree and stone, while chanting or reciting a Litany of Mercy, usually a Litany of the Saints.”[4]
In addition to the general purpose of thanking God and invoking His blessings, the author of Barefoot Abbeyprovides specific intentions for each of the Ember Days by season. The purpose of these intentions is so we can render thanks to Almighty God for the fruits of the earth, which specifically become instruments of His grace through the Sacraments:
“Winter or Advent Ember Days are after the Feast of St. Lucy (December 13th): Give thanks for the olives that make holy oils for Unction. Spring or Lenten Ember Days are after Ash Wednesday: Give thanks for the flowers and bees that make blessed candles as in for Baptism and upon the altar. Summer or Whit Ember Days are after the Solemnity of Pentecost: 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): Give thanks for the grapes that make wine for the Precious Blood of Christ.”[5]
By writing these down and recalling them for the Ember Days of each season, we can be more intentional in what we are thanking God for in any given season. In this respect, the Ember Days further distinguish themselves from the Rogation Days.
The Cultural Impact of the Ember Days to Japan
Ember Days would remain obligatory for the faithful until the changes immediately after Vatican II in the mid-1960s. In fact, their observance has led to several long-term cultural implications. For instance, Ember Days are the reason we have “tempura” dishes in Asian cuisine. For instance, shrimp tempura is based on Ember Days, which are known as quatuor tempora in Latin.
Portuguese (and Spanish) missionaries to the Far East would invite the converted Japanese to fast during the quator tempora by eating a dish that consisted of battered and deep-fried seafood and vegetables called “Peixinhos da Horta” (in Portuguese, this literally translates to “little fishes from the garden”). It is a dish consisting of bell peppers, squash, and green beans that is fried into a flour-based batter.
The term steadily gained popularity in southern Japan and became widely used to refer to any sort of food prepared using hot oil, battered or not. This term would persist even after Catholicism was outlawed by the Japanese and the Church’s missionaries were executed or exiled in the late 1500s. It was not until the 1870s that Christianity legally returned to Japan. But the faithful of Japan continued to keep the Faith alive in their families, including through the keeping of fast and abstinence days.
Yet as we will see in Part 2, Ember Days have fallen into obscurity by far too many Catholics at a time when we need the penance the most!
ENDNOTES:
[1] Francis Mershman, “Ember Days,” The Catholic Encyclopedia (Robert Appleton Company, 1909). Accessed via http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05399b.htm
[2] Ibid.
[3] Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year: Advent (Burns & Oates, 1910), p. 218.
[4] Carl Fortunato, What Are Rogation Days? Accessed via http://www.liturgies.net/Rogation/RogationArticle.htm
[5] Barefoot Abbey, “Everything You Need to Know about the Ember Days.” Accessed via https://barefootabbey.com/2019/03/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ember-days/.