What are the correct Ember Days in September?

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I marked the Ember Days on my calendar as the 23rd, 25th, and 26th because I read they should fall in the first full week after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, however, the “give-me” calendar from the pharmacy lists them as the 16th, 18th, and 19th. What are the correct days? Thanks, Kaycee
 
My old missal (1954) has them as Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following September 14 – which would make them September 16, 18 and 19.
 
My understanding is that Ember Days always occur in the first FULL week after Feast of the Holy Cross - so the later of the two sets of dates.

If wikipedia may be cited without me being condemned for it, it has this to say:

"The Ember Weeks—the weeks in which the Ember Days occur—are the week between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent, between the first and second Sundays of Lent, the week between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, and the week beginning on the Sunday after Holy Cross Day (September 14), the liturgical Third Week of September.

I think it’s just a matter of some sources simply stating ‘the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Holy Cross’ without clearly specifying that it’s the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the first FULL week after Holy Cross, as seems to be the case. Hence the confusion.
 
The difference is due to the liturgical changes of Pope John XXIII. The 16, 18, 19 are according to the pre-John XXIII reckoning, and the 23,25, 26 according to the post 1961 reckoning.

The difference comes from the readjustment of the Liturgical First Sunday of the month in the breviary. At Matins, Scripture lessons are given for each month. In order to determine the First Sunday of the month in September, the rule pre-1961 was:
  • identify the day of the week on which the first of September occurs
  • if it is Monday to Wednesday then the Sunday before is the first Sunday
  • if Thursday to Saturday, then the following Sunday
After John XXIII, the first Liturgical Sunday is the first Sunday of the month.

The Ember days are placed in the Third Week (liturgically speaking) of September.

So for 2009, Sept. 1 is a Tuesday. Therefore:
pre-1961: the 1st Sunday of September is August 30. The 3rd Sunday is September 13th, and therefore the Ember days occur on the 16, 18, 19.
post 1961: the 1st Sunday of September is September 6, and the 3rd Sunday is September 20, so the Ember days are 23, 25, 26.

The association with the Holy Cross is because before the 1961 changes, the Holy Cross would always fall between a Wednesday in the Second Liturgical Week of September and a Tuesday in the Third Liturgical Week, so it was a popular and easy way of remembering them.
 
AJV said:
The difference is due to the liturgical changes of Pope John XXIII. The 16, 18, 19 are according to the pre-John XXIII reckoning, and the 23,25, 26 according to the post 1961 reckoning.

The difference comes from the readjustment of the Liturgical First Sunday of the month in the breviary. At Matins, Scripture lessons are given for each month. In order to determine the First Sunday of the month in September, the rule pre-1961 was:
  • identify the day of the week on which the first of September occurs
  • if it is Monday to Wednesday then the Sunday before is the first Sunday
  • if Thursday to Saturday, then the following Sunday
After John XXIII, the first Liturgical Sunday is the first Sunday of the month.

The Ember days are placed in the Third Week (liturgically speaking) of September.

So for 2009, Sept. 1 is a Tuesday. Therefore:
pre-1961: the 1st Sunday of September is August 30. The 3rd Sunday is September 13th, and therefore the Ember days occur on the 16, 18, 19.
post 1961: the 1st Sunday of September is September 6, and the 3rd Sunday is September 20, so the Ember days are 23, 25, 26.

The association with the Holy Cross is because before the 1961 changes, the Holy Cross would always fall between a Wednesday in the Second Liturgical Week of September and a Tuesday in the Third Liturgical Week, so it was a popular and easy way of remembering them.
Click to expand...
“Lent, Pent, Cruce and Luce” is how I was taught 😃
 
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