[Sca-cooks] Ember Day

[johnna holloway]

Whitsun or whit sunday comes from
the white robes of those baptized on
that Sunday. It's the seventh sunday
after Easter. The tradition of Ember Fasts
dates back to Pope Leo I (440-461).
Dec. 13th is St. Lucy or Santa Lucia.
There are three days of fasting after her
day, being the Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday following. Then Ember Fasts
follow after the first
Sunday in Lent and then after Whit Sunday.
(These two would have been movable dates,
dependent upon when Easter was held.)
September 14 is Holy Cross Day or Holy Rood
Day and marks the date that Constantine
dedicated the basilica on the site of the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; during it's
construction the true and holy cross was found
supposively at the site, hence Holy Cross
Day. Source: The Oxford Companion to the Year.

Johnna Holloway  Johnnae llyn Lewis


> Also sprach Sandra Kisner:
> >  >>"Ember day: A day reserved for prayer and fasting by some Christian
> >>>churches, observed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first
> >>>Sunday of Lent, after Whitsunday, after September 14, and after December
> >>>13." -- American Heritage Dictionary
> >>
> >>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?
> >>> >>Adamantius
---------------------------------------------
> >      Actually (according to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate
> >Dictionary), it's ME from OE ymbrendaeg, from ymbrene circuit,
> >anniversary + daeg day.  (I added the   What anniversary they mean,
> >I don't know.  I would assume it would have to do with the
> >liturgical year, meaning these were the annual observances of
> >something. Lent and Whitsun I can see.  What is September 14?  A
> >particular saint's day?  December 13 is too late to be the beginning
> >of Advent.>
---------------------------
> No, but it's not _too_ far from the winter solstice. Neither are the
> others too far from visible season changes which define the farmer's
> year, as opposed to the mathematician's year. It could be one of
> those pagan holdovers/adoptees in honor of the change of the seasons.
> Of course, virtually every religion has a period of reflection and
> penitence following a major holiday...>
> Adamantius
>