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Many Christians across the country and around the world are celebrating Ember Days today — Wednesday, March 9, 2022 — as well as on Friday and Saturday of this week as part of their 2022 Lenten observances.
Explaining that Ember Days are "old-fashioned, traditional" observances perhaps going as far back as the fifth century A.D., Rev. Canon Victor Lee Austin, theologian-in-residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview that these special days are a time to pray for "the ministry of the church."
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Given today's "polarized" and "fractured" world — and pointing to the war in Ukraine as tangible evidence of that — Fr. Austin said we need "the ministry of reconciliation" to spread throughout the world.
Ash Wednesday, exactly one week ago today, marked the start of Lent this year. Wednesday, March 9, 2022, is an Ember Day of Lent, as are this Friday and Saturday as well. (Getty Images)
There are four sets of Ember Days each year, which roughly follow the seasons.
The Lenten Ember Days always fall the week after Ash Wednesday and the first Sunday of Lent.
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"When I became an Episcopalian and first learned of these days, I thought they had some obscure connection to fire," said Austin.
"Not so," he continued. "In Massey Shepherd's old commentary on the American Prayer Book, ‘ember’ is a shortening from the German ‘Quatember,’ itself from Latin ‘Quattuor Tempora,’ which means ‘four seasons.’"
A Catholic priest is shown sprinkling ash on the head of a man during Ash Wednesday rituals last year at the St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. Ash Wednesday — one week ago —marked the start of Lent this year around the world. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Speaking further on the ancient beginnings of Ember Days, Fr. Austin said the choice of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday comes from church practices in the early centuries A.D.
Back then, both Wednesday and Friday were set as days of fasting — and in Rome, Saturday was also a fast day in preparation for Sunday.
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The focus of Ember Days used to be exclusively on ordained ministry — bishops, priests and deacons, said Austin.
In recent decades, the emphasis has broadened, he said. In the Episcopal Church today, for example, there are three prayers — each of the Ember Days has a slightly different focus.
Fr. Austin of Dallas spoke to Fox News Digital in March 2022 about Lent's Ember Days — and the importance of reconciliation at this time of year. (Rev. Canon Victor Lee Austin)
First: A prayer for the ordained, that God would "fill them with the truth of thy doctrine" and "clothe them with holiness of life," said Fr. Austin.
This is a prayer that the ordained continue in faithful service throughout their life, something that cannot be done without God's special help, "which is what we mean by grace," he said.
"Ember Days [highlight] the fact that the church itself has a vocation, and that is to be an instrument of God for the spread of his kingdom," said Fr. Austin of Dallas, Texas.
Second: A prayer that fit persons are chosen for the ordained ministry; in other words, this is a prayer for discernment. This prayer turns our attention to the "processes in the church" by which discernment is made of whom to ordain, said Austin. "Priests are not lone rangers; they live and work as part of the whole church," he noted.
A woman is shown praying here inside a church in this file image. The special Ember Days of Lent each have a particular prayer focus, said Fr. Austin of Dallas, Texas, in an interview with Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Third: We pray for all Christians during Ember Days. All Christians have a ministry, ordained or not, said Fr. Austin.
The prayer is offered "for all members of thy holy Church," that they would serve God in truth and godliness "in their vocation and ministry."
"Ember Days [highlight] the fact that the church itself has a vocation, and that is to be an instrument of God for the spread of his kingdom," Austin said, noting that every Christian person has some part to play in that "very big calling."
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For most, at part will not be in the worship of the church itself, but out in the world — in school, or business or home — wherever God has led them.
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"The big purpose of the whole ministry of the church" is the reconciliation of people "with one another, and with God," Fr. Austin said.
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