This Saturday, September 19, coincides, according to the traditional Roman liturgical calendar, with the Ember Saturday of September, the last of three days—Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—that for centuries were particularly dedicated to fasting, prayer, and thanksgiving.
The Ember Days, known in Latin as Quattuor Tempora, distributed four penitential periods throughout the year. Those of September were linked to the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and retained a particular connection with the harvest, thanksgiving for the gifts received, and, especially on Saturday, with ordinations.
Although they ceased to be a universal obligatory observance after the liturgical reform, their presence in the Roman tradition was for centuries so stable that it marked four times a year the rhythm of prayer and penance of the Church.
Four times a year
The Ember Days consisted of sets of Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays distributed approximately across the four seasons.
Those of spring were celebrated during Lent; the next ones after Pentecost; those of September around the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; and the last of the year near the feast of Saint Lucy, in December.
In this way, the Christian calendar periodically introduced penitential days throughout the year. Fasting was not solely associated with Lent: it returned at different moments as a reminder of man’s dependence on God and as spiritual preparation.
In the ancient Roman usage, the Ember Days also became linked to the various harvests: wheat, wine, and oil. The Church thus assumed elements of the natural cycle and directed them toward thanksgiving to the Creator.
Why was the Saturday so particular?
Ember Saturday possessed an exceptionally rich liturgical structure.
Unlike an ordinary Mass, its celebration incorporated several readings from the Old Testament, each accompanied by prayers, before reaching the epistle and the Gospel. The scheme preserves vestiges of the ancient Roman vigils and made this day one of the most extensive celebrations of the calendar.
But Saturday acquired another decisive characteristic: for centuries it was one of the days traditionally chosen in Rome for conferring holy orders.
The relationship between Ember Days and ordinations became so close that these days also became an occasion to pray for vocations and for the holiness of the clergy.
Precisely this dimension has allowed some communities to recover the practice voluntarily today.
The Ember Saturday of September
This year, the Ember Days of September correspond to Wednesday the 16th, Friday the 18th, and Saturday the 19th.
In the traditional Roman calendar, the Mass of this Saturday retains the violet color and the ancient sequence of readings and prayers. Among its texts appears a collect that asks God that, through “salutary continence,” He may heal body and soul and hear the prayer of those who fast.
The liturgy thus reflects the penitential character that accompanied these days: fasting, abstinence, prayer, and gratitude for the goods received.
September 19 also coincides this year with the feast of Saint Januarius and his companion martyrs, whose commemoration is integrated into the celebration according to the traditional calendar.
Did the Ember Days disappear?
The reform of the liturgical calendar after the Second Vatican Council profoundly modified their observance.
The universal norms left to the episcopal conferences the determination of the dates and the concrete manner of celebrating the Ember Days and Rogation Days, adapting them to the needs and characteristics of each place. As a consequence, in a large part of the Catholic world they ceased to have a perceptible presence for the faithful.
The ancient Roman discipline no longer obliges Catholics. But this Saturday, one of those days reappears in the traditional calendar on which the Church interrupted the ordinary rhythm of the year to fast, give thanks for the gifts received, and ask God for new ministers for His altar.
That does not mean that the Church has prohibited the ancient penitential practice. Voluntary fasting, the prayer of thanksgiving, and the petition for vocations remain fully possible.