[Sca-cooks] Imaginary list

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

>
> I wonder why they're called Ember days, and if it has anything to do
> with keeping fires lit but banked, in which case certain types of
> foods might be indicated as a good idea. Could this be evidence of a
> religious restriction helping to define a cooking style, as with
> Cholent?

Hm. Well, this is what the New Catholic Encyclopedia says about Ember
Days...


"Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) 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. The immediate occasion
was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given
to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class. At the
beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were
performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful
harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding;
hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales. The
Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any
practices which could be utilized for a good purpose. At first the Church
in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were
not fixed but were announced by the priests. The "Liber Pontificalis"
ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering: the fast, but
probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic
institution.  When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but
Gelasius (492-496) speaks of all four. This pope also permitted the
conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember
week--these were formerly given only at Easter. Before Gelasius the ember
days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread.
They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by
the Carlovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the
eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan.
The Eastern Church does not know them.  The present Roman Missal, in the
formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons
from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three,
for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of
these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve
God.
                          FRANCIS MERSHMAN
                          Transcribed by Carl H. Horst

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."