Spring Ember Days

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.

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.

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 on our diocesan website for the Office of Rural Life and Ministry. 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.