History of Ember Days
Ember Days grew slowly within the life of the Church as a way of sanctifying the seasons through fasting and prayer. This timeline highlights key moments in their historical development.
Before Christianity
Long before Christianity, both the Jewish people and the ancient Romans marked the changing seasons with religious observances. Jewish feasts such as Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot were tied to planting and harvest, while Roman society also celebrated seasonal agricultural festivals.
Late 1st century
One of the earliest Christian writings, the Didache, shows that Christians already had a regular rhythm of fasting. Unlike Jewish custom, which fasted on Mondays and Thursdays, Christians fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Early 3rd Century
According to an early Church source, the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Callistus I (c. 217–222) ordered a local seasonal fast for Christians in Rome, though the practice to have been part of Roman Christian life by that time
5th century
Pope Leo the Great preached often about Ember Days, speaking of them as an ancient and well-established practice in the Roman Church. Around the same time, Pope Gelasius I confirmed Ember Saturdays as days for ordinations.
6th-8th centuries
What began in Rome slowly spread outward. Over these centuries, Ember Days took root in much of Western Europe.
9th-11th centuries
As the Church worked to bring greater unity to its liturgical life, Ember Days became more widely observed. In 1078, Pope Gregory VII formally fixed four Ember seasons—Lent, Pentecost, September, and Advent—for the whole Western Church.
12th-15th centuries
By the High Middle Ages, Ember Days were a normal part of Catholic life. Christians fasted on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of each Ember week, and Ember Saturdays were the usual days for ordaining priests.
1570
After the Council of Trent, the Roman Missal issued under Pope Pius V preserved and standardized the Ember Day prayers and readings that had developed over centuries.
17th-19th centuries
Ember Days remained required days of fasting among Roman Catholics, even as society became increasingly industrial and less directly connected to agricultural seasons.
1966
In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI reorganized the Church’s laws of fasting. Ember Days remain on the calendar, but fasting is now optional.