WINTER EMBER DAYS
DECEMBER 18, 20, & 21 2019
Ember days are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085).
The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.
The Ember Weeks, the weeks in which the Ember Days occur, are these weeks:
Between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent;
Between the first and second Sundays of Lent;
Between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday;
The liturgical Third Week of September. According to an old way of counting, the first Sunday of a month was considered the Sunday proximate to, not on or after, the first of the month, so this yielded as Ember Week precisely the week containing the Wednesday after Holy Cross Day (September 14), and as Ember Days said Wednesday and the following Friday and Saturday.
These are optional fasting and prayer days for Catholics, but promote a good practice of reflection and commitment to the coming feast of Christmas!
