Up until 1969, our ritual liturgical calendar included agrarian, or agricultural prayer days called Ember Days. Ember Days were a way of celebrating the various growing and harvest seasons of the liturgical year. Ember Days are days of penitential prayer that occur four times in the calendar. In fact, some people believe the word “ember” may most likely be connected to a Latin word meaning “four times.”
In recent years, interest in Ember Days has been revived and more and more communities are using these opportunities to give thanks, to use fasting and abstinence and other prayer forms to acknowledge God’s gift of earth’s bounty and God’s hand in our earthly sustenance.
Even though Ember Days no longer appear as obligatory on our liturgical calendar, they are no less powerful opportunities to sing God’s praise and pray for the fruits of the earth and the work of our hands. Opportunity has become more significant than obligation.
The Ember Days in our Church year celebrate the new light of springtime, and the harvests of wheat, grapes and olives. Wheat, grapes and olives are the source of principle elements of worship for Catholic Christians; bread, wine and the Sacred Chrism as well as The Oil of the Infirmed and the Oil of the Catechumen.
Ember Days occur in groups of three and opinions on their historical origins have varied over time. For our purposes, it is sufficient to suggest that the first Ember Days celebrate the new light of springtime and anticipate the joy of Easter resurrection. They occur on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following Ash Wednesday.
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday have long been days of special observance. Wednesday inspires a reflection on the betrayal of the Lord, Friday recalls the Lord’s Passion and Saturday continues that reflection of the Passion. Historically, Ember Saturdays were considered the most appropriate day for priestly ordinations and Friday was also, at one time, considered the day to honor the Blessed Virgin. There are many varied academic and common perspectives on the matter.
This year, the Ember Days of spring would be March 12th, 14th and 15th, 2025.
Resources for celebrating the spring Ember Days can be found on the Catholic Rural Life website, CatholicRuralLife.org or see their video “What are Ember Days?”
More information regarding subsequent dates for the Ember Days of 2025 will be found here, on our diocesan website for the Office of Rural Life and Ministry in the near future. If you have questions, ideas or would like to share rural life events, don’t hesitate to contact us at the Youngstown Diocese Office of Rural Life and Farm Ministry, 330-744-8451.
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