Ember Days

The Embertides are quarterly periods of fasting and prayer within the western Christian calendar. There's an old rhyming mnemonic which helps me remember how they fall within the year: "Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy." That's a bit terse, so it might help to know Lucy means St. Lucy's day, December 13th, while "Crucy" is Holy Cross Day, or September 14th. Penty is the Feast of Pentecost. Lenty is Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. In each case, the Ember Days fall on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following. The Christian preference for fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays dates at least as far back as The Didache. These days remind me Jesus was betrayed on a Wednesday, crucified on a Friday, and "descended to the dead" on a Saturday. Seen in that light, they become echoes of Holy Week spread throughout the Christian Year.

Two of these occasions, Advent and Lent, are already seasons of preparation. The other two fall, the ember days after "Penty" and "Crucy", fall within Ordinary Time. Christians (at least in the Anglican tradition) celebrate the Great Fifty Days of Easter by not fasting at all, so it stands to reason there isn't a period of fasting and prayer during this season of the year. 

When we practice fasting and other kinds of self-denial, we practice dying to ourselves, or putting our desires for good things to death, for some higher purpose. Various Christian traditions employ the ember days in different ways. Some churches focus on confession and penance. Some pray for peace. As someone shaped by the Book of Common Prayer, I think of the Ember Days as days for fasting and prayer for those called into ministry. These are good days to pray for people hearing the call for the first time, people discerning a call they've heard, and those who are answering the call by preparing for ministry. 

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