On the first Saturday of Advent, the Church chooses as the gospel Matthew’s account of the commissioning of the Apostles. After taking to heart the lost souls around Him, He demands that His disciples beg God to send more laborers into the fields. He then empowers the Apostles and commands them to go out into the world to continue His mission of redemption (c.f. Mt 8:35-10:3). The implications are obvious. There are many lost souls that can only be saved through the continuing authoritative mission of the Apostles. But this mission only continues through the prayers of all Christ’s disciples for more Bishops and Priests.
This interpretation is by no means novel. The Church has always understood what Our Lord was telling us to do. Nevertheless, in times of vocational crisis, there is a tendency, rather than trusting in God’s way of doing things, to look for human solutions. Thus, we find ourselves discussing doing away with celibacy or adding women to the ranks of the ordained as human solutions to the problem. But ultimately the “vocations crisis” is a crisis of faith in that we do not trust in God’s promise to send faithful Bishops and Priests. We do not have them because we do not ask.
One might immediately object to what I just said. There are plenty of people who pray for vocations. While it is true that I have no idea how many people pray for vocations regularly, I do know that the Church has official periods of supplication for Priests that practically go unnoticed. I am, of course, speaking of Ember Days. Ember Days are the ways in which the Church fulfills Our Lord’s command to pray for more harvesters.
The Ember Days
The Quatuor Tempora or Ember Days, are four periods of prayer and fasting (if you want to know how to fast, read this previous entry) that the Church has set aside for each of the four Ecclesiastical seasons. Ember Days begin are marked by three days (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) of penance by which the Church, especially through fasting, consecrates to God each of the Seasons of the Year. The practice sprung out of the habit of Israel to fast in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth month (c.f. Zech 8:18-19). The practice, at least according to Pope St. Leo the Great, has been a part of the Church’s year since the times of the Apostles.
The Advent Ember Days, like each of the other three, have as their object gratitude and supplication for the harvest. According to Leo the Great, the Advent Ember Days, falling in the time of the year where all the fruits of the earth had been collected, would mark a time of “joyful fasting” (Zech 9:19) in thanksgiving for the harvest.
The connection to the earthly harvest also has a further meaning connected to Our Lord’s mention of the great harvest of souls. The Church through an act of penance would pray the Lord of the harvest to send worthy Ministers who are holy and true Shepherds during the Ember Days. The faithful would join the Church in her intention by offering their own acts fasting. In short then the Ember Days are special days in which the Church as a whole fasts and prays together for vocations.
The fall into disuse of the Ember Days and the current vocation crisis are hardly coincidental. The prayer of the Church is always far more pleasing and efficacious than individual prayer. As the Ember Days of Advent come upon us tomorrow, let us join the Church in this act of gratitude for the faithful Shepherds among us and beg the Lord to send us more. As Dom Prosper Gueranger exhorts us, the Ember Days are a great way to “keep within ourselves the zeal of our forefathers for this holy season of Advent. We must never forget, that although the interior preparation is what is absolutely essential for our profiting by the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, yet this preparation could scarcely be real, unless it manifested itself by exterior practices of religion and penance.” Individually chastened by our fasts, let us then join the Church in these Ember Days and implore the Lord of the Harvest to send out more laborers.