September is traditionally designated for devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a feast celebrated in the heart of the month, the 15th, immediately after the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. These feasts, together with other traditional observances, imbue the whole month with a sombre tone.
Speaking of sombre, other traditional September observances might deepen the penitential and reparative spirit without which our Catholic identity is enervated and incomplete.
For example, in September’s third full week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, we have the Ember Days, moments of fasting and penance. Bishops can even today, using the post-conciliar Ordinary Form calendar, assign Ember Days observances in the dioceses entrusted to them. This year, for example, in the wake of horrifying new clerical scandals, some bishops in the United States have called for worshippers to perform penance on Ember Days. Bishop Morlino of Madison in Wisconsin has invited people to fasting and abstinence, “in reparation for the sins and outrages committed by members of the clergy”. “Some sins, like some demons, can only be driven out by prayer and fasting,” the bishop wrote.
