The Ember Days are four sets of three seasonal days of prayer, fasting and abstinence. They fall equidistant in the cycle of the year and each of them contains a Wednesday, Friday and a Saturday of the same week. On these days, Catholics traditionally fast as they would on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, except they are permitted to eat meat as part of the main meal on the Wednesday and Saturday.
The next Embertide comes this month. It usually comes during the week following the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) – so this year, the September Ember Days fall on Wednesday, September 18, Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21. After that, the next Embertide will be in the third week of Advent, then the first full week of Lent and the week following Pentecost Sunday.
