A Plan For All Seasons by Anne Marie Collopy The Ember Days Revisited: From the earliest days of the Church, "Ember Days" were observed at the time of each solstice and equinox. Fasting and abstaining from flesh meat, penances, almsgiving, and special prayers in the Masses on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of Ember Weeks were prescribed to invoke divine protection and the blessings of a good harvest. In her wisdom, Mother Church saw the necessity of regular bodily mortification and almsgiving, particularly at changeful, solemn and great times of the year--and knowing well the human tendency to conveniently forget such disciplines, fixed their practice firmly in the ecclesial calendar. Paperback, 16 pages. |