Embring Days Or Ember Days - Definition - Law Dictionary

Definition :

Embring days or ember days [fr. embers; cineres, Lat., because our ancestors, when they fasted, sat in ashes, or strewed them on their heads], those days which the ancient fathers called quatuor tempora jejunii are of great antiquity in the church; they are observed on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday next after (a) the first Sunday in Lent; (b) Whit Sunday; (c) Holyrood Day, September 14; and (d) St. Lucy's Day, December 13, Brit. c. liii.; Book of Common Prayer. Our almanacs call the weeks in which they fall the Ember weeks, and they are now chiefly noticed on account of the ordination of priests and deacons; because the 31st canon appoints the Sunday next after the Ember weeks for the solemn times of ordination, Wheatly Com. Pr.