Ember Week in Advent: A Time of Penance | The Fatima Center

“Rouse up Thy power, Lord, and come!
We trust in Thy goodness: be quick to deliver us from all evil.”[1]
History and Origins of Ember Days
The quarterly Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday occurring within the same week, which occur at or near the beginning of each season (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), and have been established by the Church as traditional days of fast and abstinence. Arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope St. Gregory VII (1073-1085), they immediately follow December 13 (Feast of St. Lucy), Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, and September 14 (Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross).[2]
Dom Guéranger, author of the classic multi-volume work The Liturgical Year, explains the origins and history of Ember Days, particularly those within Advent:
“This observance of fasting has been fixed for each of the four seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year, a practice which the Church took from the Synagogue, dating back to Apostolic times.
“The intentions …