This Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are the traditional autumn Ember Days (after the feast of the Holy Cross on September 14). These seasonal days of fasting and prayer seem to have originated at Rome by at least the third century, and they were probably Christian days of fasting in contrast to pagan feasts near changes of the seasons. Slowly the observance spread throughout the Western Church, and in the early Middle Ages, the days also became associated with ordinations.
Until liturgical revisions of the 1960s and 1970s, Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic liturgies included Ember Day prayers. However, newer liturgies made them optional, and the Ember Days practically disappeared in many places. Those who still use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer find two Ember Day prayers for those to be ordained included among the general prayers. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer has an additional general prayer for the increase of the ministry and a set of Ember Day propers. The Collect for the Day also focuses on the increase of candidates for ministry rather than on actual ordinations. The 1962 Canadian BCP includes propers for each set of Ember Days. The autumn theme focuses on Christian labor.
It is certainly appropriate to have seasonal days of prayer and fasting. It is also fitting for us to pray for ordained vocations. The Church always needs candidates with sound spiritual, moral, and mental qualities to pursue ordination. Those already ordained also need the Church's prayers that they may fulfill their vocations in a godly manner.
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