Fr. Z's Blog

From a reader….

QUAERITUR:

I’ve seen two sets of dates for the Ember Days this September.  I thought they were supposed to be in the week after Exaltation of the Cross?  So I say a tweet from Taylor Marshall who wishes that Fr. Cekeda was still alive so that he could explain it.  I’ll bet you can.

Yes.

Here is his tweet.

So in pre1955 Calendar this is Ember week. But in 1962 Calender, Ember week is next week. I wish we still had @frcekada to tell is why…?

— Dr Taylor Marshall ??? (@TaylorRMarshall) September 16, 2020

Sometime these whippersnappers forget that there are still a few old priests around who know what is going on.     o{];¬)  

BTW… the Fr. Cekeda he mentioned was a Sedevacantist priest who died recently.  He wrote quite a bit about the liturgical changes perpetrated by and in the name of the Council.  The book he wrote about Novus Ordo had just about the best title ever devised for a book about the Novus Ordo: Work Of Human Hands.  May God be merciful to him. R.I.P.

Ad ramos.

Four times a year, roughly in keeping with the changing of seasons, we observe three penitential days, the Ember Days, a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  I’ve written many times about the origin of “Ember” and what they are all about.  This post is offered simply to clarify when the September Ember Days fall.

The old rhyme is

Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie.

A short version: Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy.

So, the autumn Ember Days should – traditionally – fall after Holyrood, which is the Holy Cross, or Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, which is fixed on 14 September.   However, 14 September slides around among the days of the week depending on the year.

In some places you might be seeing that today, 16 September, was Ember Wednesday.  Thus, 18 Friday and 19 Saturday would follow.  These are the first available Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Exaltation of the Cross, right?  Ember Days, right?

Right!

But, as it turns out, it is more complicated than that.

Traditionally, that’s right.

Since time immemorial, certain books of Scripture were read from August through November.  The change in the books to be read fell on the 1st Sunday of the month.  However, the 1st Sunday of a month was considered the Sunday closest to the 1st day of the month, not necessarily the first Sunday within the month.  Hence, it was possible for the 1st Sunday of August to still be in July, the 1st of September to be in August, etc.

Here is a shot from the great site Divinum Officium with the rubrics set for pre-1955.

Notice that, this year, 30 August, the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, is the 1st Sunday of September!

So, the Ember Days in the pre-1955 calculation are just after the Exaltation of the Cross on a Monday, hence 16, 18 and 19.

Then, in 1960, John XXIII changed things around (yeah, big surprise, right?).  Henceforth, the 1st Sunday of the month was the actual 1st Sunday of the month, rather than the Sunday closest to the 1st day of the month.  In this screenshot of the calendar with the 1960 rubrics, you can see that the 1st Sunday of September is on 6 September, rather than pre-55 30 August.

John XXIII fixed the Ember Days of September to follow the 3rd Sunday of September, now fixed as the actual 3rd Sunday. See?

Hence, this year, 2020, in the 1960 rubrics  the 3rd Sunday of September is on the 20th, the 16th Sunday after Pentecost.  Hence, this year the Ember Days are on Wednesday 23, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September.

According to Summorum Pontificum we use the calendar in force in 1962.

Yes, permissions have been given – quite rightly – to use the pre-55 Holy Week.   But that wouldn’t extend to the use of the pre-55 calendar for the Breviary and the Mass for the rest of the year.   Some will say that we should be flexible and that the Church can support a lot of variety.

Anyway… that’s what’s going on with the date of the Ember Days in 2020.