Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. The 'Liber Pontificalis' ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering: the fast, but probably it is older. At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class.Īt the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross). The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.

They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S.

Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. Let the abstinence of him that fasts, become the meal of the poor man.’Įmber days (corruption from Lat. Let us make that which we retrench from indulgence, serve unto the exercise of virtue. But since fasting alone is not sufficient whereby to secure the soul’s salvation, let us add to it works of mercy towards the poor. By voluntary mortifications, the flesh dies to its concupiscences, and the spirit is renewed in virtue. Abstinence is the source of chaste thoughts, of wise resolutions, and of salutary counsel. 'For fasting,’ adds the holy doctor, 'has ever been the nourishment of virtue. Leo, in one of his sermons on this fast, of which the Church has inserted a passage in the second nocturn of the third Sunday of Advent, tells us that a special fast was fixed for this time of the year, because the fruits of the earth had then all been gathered in, and that it behoved Christians to testify their gratitude to God by a sacrifice of abstinence, thus rendering themselves more worthy to approach to God, the more they were detached from the love of created things. The Ember days of Advent are known, in ecclesiastical antiquity, as the fast of the tenth month and St. The intentions, which the Church has in the fast of the Ember days, are the same as those of the Synagogue namely, to consecrate to God by penance the four seasons of the year.

Winter ember days