IN THE TRADITIONAL
LATIN RITE
IT IS
EMBER WEDNESDAY
Ember
days are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as
days of fast and abstinence.
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. 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.
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