The privilege of the traditional Ember Days (The Roman Liturgy)

Fasting on the Ember Days is a special feature of the Roman Liturgy and the traditional Latin Mass, going back to the apostle St Peter and ancient Rome.

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It’s also a crossover post from our ongoing series on The Roman Liturgy.

Four times a year, the Roman Liturgy marks the Ember Days – three days of fasting and penance.

The Jews also observed something similar, fasting on the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months (Tammuz, Av, Tishrei and Teves – and July, August, October and January respectively). These fasts marked the following events:

• Shiva Asa BeTammuz (17^th Tammuz): Moses’ breaking the tablets of the Law and the breaching of the Walls of Jerusalem by both Rome and Babylon (apparently on the same calendar date)

• Tisha B’Av (9^th Av): The destruction of the Temple by Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar) and by Titus – as well as God’s decree that the generation of Israelites in the desert would not enter the Promised Land (because they balked at the account of Joshua’s spies). It was apparently also the date of the defeat of the false Messias Bar Kokchba, and of several other difficulties for the Jewish people (such as their expulsion from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1290).

• Tzom Gedaliah (3^rd or 4^th Tishrei, the day after Rosh Hashana): The death of Godolias (Gedaliah) the Governor and the dispersal of the remaining Jews in the Holy land while most were in exile in Babylon.

• Asarah B’Tevet (10^th Tevet): The captives with Ezechiel hearing about the destruction of the Temple[1] – as well as the translating of the Septuagint (lamented by some of the Rabbis) and the death of Ezra the Scribe.

However, as interesting as these parallels are, the Church – and particularly the Roman Church – marks the Ember days at different times of the year, and for different reasons.

History and Seasons

We can note this from their name. “Ember” is a corruption of the Latin tempora (times) and the fasts are called “Quattuor Tempora” in Latin – meaning “the four times.” They are linked to the four seasons:

• Advent (Winter – for seeding)

• Lent (Spring)

• Pentecost (Summer – for the harvest)

• September (Autumn – for the wine vintage)

More precisely, they fall on the Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays:

• Following the feast of St Lucy (13 Dec)

• In the first week of Lent

• In the Pentecost Octave

• Following the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 Sep)

These dates are summarised in two quaint folklore rhymes:

Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucie.

Or more dramatically:

Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood and Lucie.

(Along with these rhymes, I have included some more folklore about the Ember Days at the bottom of this piece.)