Misplaced Pages

#763236

103-882: The observance of fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church eliminated the Ember days in 1966. They remain a feature of other Western churches, such as in Anglicanism , where the Book of Common Prayer provides for the Ember days, in practice observed in different ways. The word ember originates from the Latin quatuor tempora (literally 'four times'). There are various views as to etymology. According to John Mason Neale in Essays of Liturgiology (1863), Chapter X: "The Latin name has remained in modern languages, though

206-573: A siege of Gergovia , a fortified town in the center of Gaul. Caesar's alliances with many Gallic clans broke. Even the Aedui, their most faithful supporters, threw in their lot with the Arverni but the ever-loyal Remi (best known for its cavalry) and Lingones sent troops to support Caesar. The Germani of the Ubii also sent cavalry, which Caesar equipped with Remi horses. Caesar captured Vercingetorix in

309-450: A close connection between fasting and almsgiving; the money saved on food should be given to the poor. The habit of fasting before Easter developed gradually, and with considerable diversity of practice regarding duration. As late as the latter part of the second century there were differing opinions not only regarding the manner of the paschal fast, but also the proper time for keeping Easter. In 331, St. Athanasius enjoined upon his flock

412-680: A combination of Roman and Celtic practice, with Celtic deities such as Cobannus and Epona subjected to interpretatio romana . The imperial cult and Eastern mystery religions also gained a following. Eventually, after it became the official religion of the Empire and paganism became suppressed, Christianity won out in the twilight days of the Western Roman Empire (while the Christianized Eastern Roman Empire lasted another thousand years, until

515-569: A few exceptions. In parts of South America, especially in Venezuela , capybara meat is popular during Lent and Holy Week ; in response to a question posed by French settlers in Quebec in the 17th century, beaver was classified as an exception; in the southeastern portion of Michigan , a longstanding dispensation allows Catholics to consume muskrat as their Friday penance, on Ash Wednesday and on Lenten Fridays, dating back to at least

618-516: A form of excommunication from the assembly of worshippers, which in ancient Gaul meant a separation from secular society as well. Thus the Druids were an important part of Gallic society. The nearly complete and mysterious disappearance of the Celtic language from most of the territorial lands of ancient Gaul, with the exception of Brittany, can be attributed to the fact that Celtic druids refused to allow

721-507: A later date the wish to realize the exact number of forty days led to the practice of beginning Lent on Ash Wednesday. Early fasting practices were varied, but by the time of Gregory the Great , the ordinary rule on all fasting days was to take only one meal a day and that only in the evening (after sunset); and to abstain from meat of all sorts, white meats (that is, milk, butter, and cheese, called lacticinia in Latin sources), eggs, and, in

824-463: A period of forty days of fasting preliminary to, but not inclusive of, the stricter fast of Holy Week, and in 339, after having traveled to Rome and over the greater part of Europe, wrote in the strongest terms to urge this observance upon the people of Alexandria as one that was universally practiced, "to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing-stock as

927-599: Is a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the Ember Days fall on the following Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday (in the second week of September) whereas they fall a week later (in the third week of September) for the Roman Catholic Church. Some Lutheran church calendars continue the observation of Ember and Rogation days, though the practice has diminished over the past century. Quarter tense is normally determined by national Roman Catholic hierarchies and not by

1030-516: Is a shorter mnemonic for when they fall. The ember days began on the Wednesday immediately following those days. This meant, for instance, that if September 14 were a Tuesday, the ember days would occur on September 15, 17, and 18. As a result, the ember days in September could fall after either the second or third Sunday in September. This was always the liturgical Third Week of September, since

1133-580: Is derived ultimately from the name of the Volcae . Also unrelated, in spite of superficial similarity, is the name Gael . The Irish word gall did originally mean "a Gaul", i.e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to "foreigner", to describe the Vikings , and later still the Normans . The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, for instance in

SECTION 10

#1732771888764

1236-511: Is known from the writings of Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (died ca 387) ( De haeres. 119). He also connects them with the great Christian festivals. As the Ember Days came to be associated with great feast days, they later lost their connection to agriculture and came to be regarded solely as days of penitence and prayer. It is only the Michaelmas Embertide, which falls around the autumn harvest, that retains any connection to

1339-608: Is less easy to say." Neil and Willoughby in The Tutorial Prayer Book (1913) prefer the view that it derives from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren , a circuit or revolution (from ymb , around, and ryne , a course, running), clearly relating to the annual cycle of the year. The word occurs in such Anglo-Saxon compounds as ymbren-tid ("Embertide"), ymbren-wucan ("Ember weeks"), ymbren-fisstan ("Ember fasts"), ymbren-dagas ("Ember days"). The word imbren occurs in

1442-413: Is no certainty concerning the origin of the druids, but it is clear that they vehemently guarded the secrets of their order and held sway over the people of Gaul. Indeed, they claimed the right to determine questions of war and peace, and thereby held an "international" status. In addition, the Druids monitored the religion of ordinary Gauls and were in charge of educating the aristocracy. They also practiced

1545-462: Is now Switzerland , northern Italy , Austria , southern Germany , Bohemia , Moravia , Slovakia and Hungary . A major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain in the Bronze Age, during the 500-year period from 1300 to 800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most closely related to ancient individuals from Gaul. The authors describe this as a "plausible vector for

1648-647: Is rooted in the 1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Paenitemini , and codified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law (in Canons 1249–1253). According to Paenitemini , the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium , on Ash Wednesday , Good Friday and where possible, throughout Holy Saturday, both abstinence and fasting are required of Catholics who are not exempted for various reasons. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority until

1751-582: Is taken between meals. Rules relating to fasting pertain to the quantity of food allowed on days of fasting, while those regulating abstinence refer to the quality or type of food. The Christian tradition of fasts and abstinence developed from Old Testament practices, and were an integral part of the early church community. Louis Duchesne asserts, based on a verse in Luke 18 , that Monday and Thursday were days of fasting among pious Jews. Early Christians practiced regular weekly fasts on Wednesdays (in remembrance of

1854-427: Is the reduction of one's intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from something that is good, and not inherently sinful, such as meat. The Catholic Church teaches that all people are obliged by God to perform some penance for their sins, and that these acts of penance are both personal and corporeal. Bodily fasting is meaningless unless it is joined with a spiritual avoidance of sin. Basil of Caesarea gives

1957-696: Is unclear. By the time of at the penultimate Code of Canon Law (1917) , major orders could also be conferred on the Saturday preceding Passion Sunday , and on the Easter Vigil ; for grave reasons, on Sundays and holy days of obligation ; and, for minor orders , even without grave reason, on all Sundays and double feasts, which included most saints' feasts and thus the great majority of the calendar. Present Roman Catholic canon law (1983) prefers them to be conferred on Sundays and holy days of obligation, but allows them for pastoral reason on any day. In practice

2060-807: The Aquitani in the southwest, the southeast being already colonized by the Romans. While some scholars believe the Belgae north of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. In addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia (present-day Marseille ) along

2163-639: The Battle of Alesia , which ended the majority of Gallic resistance to Rome. As many as a million people (probably 1 in 5 of the Gauls) died, another million were enslaved , 300 clans were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars. The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered. Before Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (Switzerland),

SECTION 20

#1732771888764

2266-655: The Ember Days , the Rogation Days , Fridays throughout the year, and vigils of some of the important feast days. Advent is considered a time of special self-examination, humility, and spiritual preparation in anticipation of the birth of Christ. Fridays and Saturdays in Advent were days of abstinence, and until early in the 20th century, the Fridays of Advent were also days of fasting. The vigils observed included

2369-577: The Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture during the 5th to 1st centuries BC. This material culture was found not only in all of Gaul but also as far east as modern-day southern Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Warbands led by the Gaul Brennos sacked the city of Rome in 387 BC, becoming the only time Rome was conquered by a foreign enemy in 800 years. However, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered by

2472-697: The Greek , Phoenician , and Etruscan civilizations . This culture spread out in a number of early centers along the Seine , the Middle Rhine and the upper Elbe . By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spread rapidly across the entire territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) not only in France but also what

2575-603: The Irish calendar for the observation of Quarter Tense were: The rule that ordination of clergy should take place in the Ember weeks was set in documents traditionally associated with Pope Gelasius I (492–496), the pontificate of Archbishop Ecgbert of York, A.D. 732–766, and referred to as a canonical rule in a capitulary of Charlemagne. It was finally established as a law of the church in the pontificate of Pope Gregory VII , ca 1085. However, why Ember Saturdays are traditionally associated with ordinations (other than episcopal ones)

2678-755: The Old Frankish *Walholant (via a Latinized form *Walula ), literally the "Land of the Foreigners/Romans". *Walho- is a reflex of the Proto-Germanic * walhaz , "foreigner, Romanized person", an exonym applied by Germanic speakers to Celts and Latin-speaking people indiscriminately. It is cognate with the names Wales , Cornwall , Wallonia , and Wallachia . The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French (cf. guerre "war", garder "ward", Guillaume "William"), and

2781-537: The Roman Catholic Church mandated fasting and abstinence on all Ember Days, and the faithful were encouraged (though not required) to receive the sacrament of penance whenever possible. On February 17, 1966, Pope Paul VI 's decree Paenitemini excluded the Ember Days as days of fast and abstinence for Roman Catholics. The revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969 laid down the following rules for Ember Days and Rogation days : "In order that

2884-593: The Roman rite in the eleventh century. Charles Borromeo introduced them into Milan in the sixteenth century. In the Eastern Orthodox Church , ember days have never been observed. The Ember Weeks , the weeks in which the Ember Days occur, are these weeks: The Ordo Romanus fixed the spring fast in the first week of March (then the first month), thus loosely associated with the first Sunday in Lent;

2987-438: The 12th-century book Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib . As adjectives, English has the two variants: Gaulish and Gallic . The two adjectives are used synonymously, as "pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls", although the Celtic language group once spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish . There is little written information concerning the peoples that inhabited the regions of Gaul, save what can be gleaned from coins. Therefore,

3090-578: The Ember Fridays in September and Advent are days of obligatory abstinence. Obligatory abstinence on Ember Friday in Lent is included in the universal Lenten discipline, and abstinence on Ember Friday on Whitsuntide is not required, as all days of the Octave of Pentecost are Solemnities. Members of the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches are obliged to follow the discipline of their own particular church . While some Eastern Catholics try to follow

3193-576: The First Sunday of September was the Sunday closest to September 1 (August 29 to September 4). As a simplification of the liturgical calendar, Pope John XXIII modified this so that the Third Sunday was the third Sunday actually within the calendar month. Thus if September 14 were a Sunday, September 24, 26 and 27 would be ember days, the latest dates possible. With September 14 as a Saturday,

Ember days - Misplaced Pages Continue

3296-511: The Franks to the north and east, and in the northwest to the lower valley of the Loire , where Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in a city like Tours and in the person of that Gallo-Roman bishop confronted with Merovingian royals, Gregory of Tours . The Druids were not the only political force in Gaul, however, and the early political system was complex, if ultimately fatal to

3399-541: The Friday coincided with a holy day of obligation . The former regulations on abstinence obliged Catholics starting as young as age seven, but there were many exceptions. Large classes of people were considered exempt from fasting and abstinence, not only the sick and those with physically demanding jobs, but also people traveling and students. On the eve of Vatican II , fasting and abstinence requirements in numerous Catholic countries were already greatly relaxed compared to

3502-652: The Gallic tongue". Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French. The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into the Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. The influence of substrate languages may be seen in graffiti showing sound changes that matched changes that had earlier occurred in

3605-476: The Gauls occupy, takes its beginning at the river Rhone; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the ocean, and the territories of the Belgae; it borders, too, on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, upon the river Rhine, and stretches toward the north. The Belgae rises from the extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the river Rhine; and look toward the north and the rising sun. Aquitania extends from

3708-540: The Gauls shifted from a primarily Celtic culture during Late Antiquity , becoming amalgamated into a Gallo-Roman culture , Gallia remained the conventional name of the territory throughout the Early Middle Ages , until it acquired a new identity as the Capetian Kingdom of France in the high medieval period. Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek (Γαλλία) and modern Latin (besides

3811-497: The Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. Even then, however, the faction lines were clear. The Romans divided Gaul broadly into Provincia (the conquered area around the Mediterranean), and the northern Gallia Comata ("free Gaul" or "long-haired Gaul"). Caesar divided the people of Gallia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani ; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae ); and Belgae . In

3914-522: The Gauls was identified by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico with the Roman god Dis Pater . Perhaps the most intriguing facet of Gallic religion is the practice of the Druids . The druids presided over human or animal sacrifices that were made in wooded groves or crude temples. They also appear to have held the responsibility for preserving the annual agricultural calendar and instigating seasonal festivals which corresponded to key points of

4017-550: The Helvetians had numbered 263,000, but afterwards only 100,000 remained, most of whom Caesar took as slaves . After Gaul was absorbed as Gallia , a set of Roman provinces, its inhabitants gradually adopted aspects of Roman culture and assimilated, resulting in the distinct Gallo-Roman culture . Citizenship was granted to all in 212 by the Constitutio Antoniniana . From the third to 5th centuries, Gaul

4120-700: The Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture ( c.  12th to 8th centuries BC) out of which the early iron-working Hallstatt culture (7th to 6th centuries BC) would develop. By 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France (except for the Alps and the extreme north-west). Out of this Hallstatt background, the La Tène culture arose during the 7th and 6th century BC, presumably representing an early form of Continental Celtic culture and likely under Mediterranean influence from

4223-694: The Masses for Various Needs, and should be one which is more particularly appropriate to the purpose of the supplications." They may appear in some calendars as "days of prayer for peace". They were made optional by churches of the Anglican Communion in 1976. In the Episcopal Church , the September Ember Days are still (optionally) observed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Holy Cross Day, so that if September 14

Ember days - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-636: The Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern French Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto- Ligurian culture. In the 2nd century BC Mediterranean Gaul had an extensive urban fabric and was prosperous. Archeologists know of cities in northern Gaul including the Biturigian capital of Avaricum ( Bourges ), Cenabum ( Orléans ), Autricum ( Chartres ) and

4429-505: The Nativity. The fast period before Christmas is called Philip's Fast because it begins after the feast day of St. Philip. Specific practices vary, but on some days during the week meat, dairy products and (in some countries) oil are avoided, while on other days there is no restriction. During approximately the last week before the Nativity, typically meat, dairy, eggs and oil are avoided on all days, meals are moderate in quantity, and no food

4532-803: The North of Spain, the weather of the ember days ( témporas ) is considered to predict the weather of the rest of the year. The prediction methods differ in the regions. Two frequent ones are: Fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church Jus novum ( c.  1140 -1563) Jus novissimum ( c.  1563 -1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of

4635-611: The Rogation Days and Ember Days may be adapted to the different regions and different needs of the faithful, the Conferences of Bishops should arrange the time and manner in which they are held. Consequently, concerning their duration, whether they are to last one or more days, or be repeated in the course of the year, norms are to be established by the competent authority, taking into consideration local needs. The Mass for each day of these celebrations should be chosen from among

4738-429: The Romans in 204 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons , who were in turn defeated by the Romans by 103 BC. Julius Caesar finally subdued the largest part of Gaul in his campaigns of 58 to 51 BC. Roman control of Gaul lasted for five centuries, until the last Roman rump state , the Domain of Soissons , fell to the Franks in AD 486. While

4841-473: The Saturday before Pentecost , October 31 (the vigil of All Saints ), December 24 ( Christmas Eve), December 7 (the vigil of the Immaculate Conception ) and August 14 (the vigil of the Assumption ). These vigils all required fasting; some also required abstinence. If any of these fell on a Sunday, the vigil, but not the obligation of fasting, was moved to the Saturday before. (Some other liturgical days were also known as vigils but neither fasting nor abstinence

4944-456: The United States, abstinence was not required on Saturday. The other weekdays were simply days of "fasting without abstinence." A similar practice (common in the United States) was called "partial abstinence", which allowed meat only once during the day at the main meal. (There is nothing in current Catholic Canon Law which corresponds to "partial abstinence".) The countries of the former Spanish empire also had their own extensive dispensations from

5047-421: The acts of the "Council of Ænham" (1009): jejunia quatuor tempora quae imbren vocant , "the fasts of the four seasons which are called "imbren'". The term Ember days refers to three days set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer during each of the four seasons of the year. The purpose of their introduction was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist

5150-419: The alternatives Francia and Francogallia ). The Greek and Latin names Galatia (first attested by Timaeus of Tauromenium in the 4th century BC) and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal(a)-to- . The Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic etymology connected the name of the Galatians (Γαλάται, Galátai ) to

5253-432: The appropriateness of white meats on fasting days, often resulting in various indulgences allowing the consumption of milk, butter, and cheese and, less commonly, eggs. In the early 20th century, Church law prescribed fasting throughout Lent, with abstinence only on Friday and Saturday. Some countries received dispensations: Rome in 1918 allowed the bishops of Ireland to transfer the Saturday obligation to Wednesday; in

SECTION 50

#1732771888764

5356-414: The basis of France's eventual division into ecclesiastical bishoprics and dioceses , which would remain in place—with slight changes—until the French Revolution . Although the clans were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically divided, there being virtually no unity among the various clans. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could

5459-580: The beginning of the 20th century, with fasting often reduced to just four days of the year (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, the vigil of Christmas or the day before, and the vigil either of the Immaculate Conception or of the Assumption). Contemporary legislation is rooted in the 1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI , Paenitemini . He recommended that fasting be appropriate to the local economic situation and that all Catholics voluntarily fast and abstain. He also allowed that fasting and abstinence might be substituted with prayer and works of charity, although

5562-458: The beginning of the sixtieth year. At that age, a person is automatically excused from the requirement to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but, if health permits, may participate in the fast should he choose to do so. According to canon 1252 of the Code of Canon Law, all Latin Church Catholics are required to observe the laws of abstinence starting at the age of 14, and according to that, "even those who by reason of their age are not bound by

5665-414: The betrayal of Christ) and on Fridays (in memory of the crucifixion of Jesus). The early Christian form is known as the Black Fast : "eating only once a day, toward evening; nothing else except a little water was taken all day". This was the normative way of Christian fasting prior to the 8th century A.D. and is still kept by some of the faithful to this day, especially during Lent. There has always been

5768-517: The conquered tribes. As a direct result of these conquests, Rome now controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river, and in the east up the Rhône valley to Lake Geneva . By 121 BC Romans had conquered the Mediterranean region called Provincia (later named Gallia Narbonensis ). This conquest upset the ascendancy of the Gaulish Arverni peoples. The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar led his army into Gaul in 58 BC, ostensibly to assist Rome's Gaullish allies against

5871-474: The contrary is sometimes affirmed, Quatuor Tempora , the Four Times. In French and Italian the term is the same; in Spanish and Portuguese they are simply Temporas . The German converts them into Quatember , and thence, by the easy corruption of dropping the first syllable, a corruption which also takes place in some other words, we get the English Ember. Thus, there is no occasion to seek after an etymology in embers; or with Nelson, to extravagate still further to

5974-418: The council. The regional ethnic groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus ; the French word pays , "region" [a more accurate translation is 'country'], comes from this term), were organized into larger multi-clan groups, which the Romans called civitates . These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and these civitates would also be

6077-411: The day had become a midday meal; and the liturgical observance of the nona hora had become tied to the daily Mass and other morning services, always said before noon . In tandem with those developments, the practice of having an evening collation (a small snack) became common. A morning collation was introduced in the early 19th century. Throughout these same centuries, there was wide disagreement over

6180-457: The early 19th century; the Archbishop of New Orleans said that "alligator is considered in the fish family" in 2010. The legal basis for the classification of capybara, beaver, and muskrat as fish probably rests with the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas , which bases animal classification as much on habit as anatomy. Besides Lent, there are other penitential times customarily accompanied by fasting or abstinence. These include Advent ,

6283-400: The early centuries, wine and oil. Consumption of fish and shellfish was usually, but not universally, allowed. Such a strict fast is sometimes called a Black Fast . While early sources place the meal after sunset, by the 10th century or earlier, the custom prevailed of taking the only meal of the day at the ninth hour (Latin nona hora , about 3 p.m.). By the 14th century, the one meal of

SECTION 60

#1732771888764

6386-437: The early history of the Gauls is predominantly a matter of archaeology, and the relationships between their material culture , genetic relationships (the study of which has been aided, in recent years, through the field of archaeogenetics ) and linguistic divisions rarely coincide. Before the rapid spread of the La Tène culture in the 5th to 4th centuries BC, the territory of eastern and southern France already participated in

6489-427: The ember days would occur on September 18, 20 and 21, the earliest possible dates. Other regulations prevailed in different countries, until the inconveniences arising from the want of uniformity led to the rule now observed being laid down under Pope Urban II as the law of the church, at the Council of Piacenza and the Council of Clermont , 1095. Prior to the reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council ,

6592-478: The eschatological significance of all liturgical vigils in the city of Rome." At first, the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December. The Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Pope Callixtus I (217–222) a law regulating the fast, although Leo the Great (440–461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Pope Gelasius I (492–496) speaks of all four. The earliest mention of four seasonal fasts

6695-403: The excavated site of Bibracte near Autun in Saône-et-Loire, along with a number of hill forts (or oppida ) used in times of war. The prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia , who found themselves under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC. Whereas on

6798-411: The faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence (from meat) at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting

6901-412: The fasts preparatory to the three great festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, a fourth needed to be added "for the sake of symmetry" as the Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 has it. From Rome the Ember days gradually spread unevenly through the whole of Western Christendom. In Gaul they do not seem to have been generally recognized much before the 8th century. Their observance in Britain, however,

7004-411: The first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. In 122 BC Domitius Ahenobarbus managed to defeat the Allobroges (allies of the Salluvii ), while in the ensuing year Quintus Fabius Maximus "destroyed" an army of the Arverni led by their king Bituitus , who had come to the aid of the Allobroges. Rome allowed Massilia to keep its lands, but added to its own territories the lands of

7107-403: The following exhortation regarding fasting: Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood and perjury. Privation of these is true fasting. Contemporary canonical legislation for Catholics of the Latin Church sui juris (who comprise most Catholics)

7210-479: The historic diphthong au is the regular outcome of al before a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux ). French Gaule or Gaulle cannot be derived from Latin Gallia , since g would become j before a (cf. gamba > jambe ), and the diphthong au would be unexplained; the regular outcome of Latin Gallia is Jaille in French, which is found in several western place names, such as, La Jaille-Yvon and Saint-Mars-la-Jaille . Proto-Germanic *walha

7313-499: The indigenous languages, especially Gaulish. The Vulgar Latin in the north of Gaul evolved into the langues d'oïl and Franco-Provencal , while the dialects in the south evolved into the modern Occitan and Catalan tongues. Other languages held to be "Gallo-Romance" include the Gallo-Italic languages and the Rhaeto-Romance languages . Following Frankish victories at Soissons (AD 486) , Vouillé (AD 507) and Autun (AD 532) , Gaul (except for Brittany and Septimania ) came under

7416-542: The invasion of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453); a small but notable Jewish presence also became established. The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible concerned the destruction by Christians of a pagan shrine in Auvergne "called Vasso Galatae in

7519-636: The law of abstinence on all Fridays unless they are solemnities, and again on Ash Wednesday; The number of days that require fasting has been greatly reduced by the Episcopal Conferences because under Canon 1253, it is these Conferences that have the authority determine the local norms for fasting and abstinence and their substitution by other forms of penance, works of charity and exercises of piety in their territories. The precept to both fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday remains untouched. Gaul Gaul ( Latin : Gallia )

7622-503: The law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance". Furthermore, all Fridays of the year, except when a Solemnity falls upon the Friday, are bound by the law of abstinence. Both Paenitemini and the 1983 Code of Canon Law permitted the Episcopal Conferences to propose adjustments of the laws on fasting and abstinence for their home territories. In some countries, the Bishops' Conferences have obtained from Rome

7725-533: The lunar-solar calendar. The religious practices of druids were syncretic and borrowed from earlier pagan traditions, with probably indo-European roots. Julius Caesar mentions in his Gallic Wars that those Celts who wanted to make a close study of druidism went to Britain to do so. In a little over a century later, Gnaeus Julius Agricola mentions Roman armies attacking a large druid sanctuary in Anglesey in Wales. There

7828-454: The migrating Helvetii . With the help of various Gallic clans (e.g., the Aedui ) he managed to conquer nearly all of Gaul. While their military was just as strong as the Romans', the internal division between the Gallic tribes guaranteed an easy victory for Caesar, and Vercingetorix 's attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late. Julius Caesar was checked by Vercingetorix at

7931-507: The mind; and they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. One part of these, which it has been said that

8034-560: The modern sense, Gaulish peoples are defined linguistically, as speakers of dialects of the Gaulish language. While the Aquitani were probably Vascons , the Belgae would thus probably be a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements. Julius Caesar, in his book, The Gallic Wars , wrote All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls,

8137-482: The needy. Possibly originating in the agricultural feasts of ancient Rome, they came to be observed by Christians for the sanctification of the different seasons of the year. James G. Sabak argues that the Embertide vigils were "...not based on imitating agrarian models of pre-Christian Roman practices, but rather on an eschatological rendering of the year punctuated by the solstices and equinoxes, and thus underscores

8240-640: The norm is abstinence on all Fridays of the year. The bishop in the United States has emphasized the statements in the USCCB norms "Friday itself remains a special day of penitential observance throughout the year", and "we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat." The Ember Days have been re-established in the Calendar of the Ordinariates, and as long as a Solemnity does not take precedence,

8343-469: The norms for doing so were to be set down by the Episcopal Conferences. The current practice of fast and abstinence is regulated by Canons 1250–1253 of the 1983 code. They specify that all Fridays throughout the year, and the time of Lent are penitential times throughout the entire Church. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by

8446-595: The noun ymbren , a recurrence, as if all holy seasons did not equally recur. Ember-week in Wales is Welsh : "Wythnos y cydgorian" , meaning "the Week of the Processions". In mediæval Germany they were called Weihfasten , Wiegfastan , Wiegefasten , or the like, on the general principle of their sanctity.... We meet with the term Frohnfasten , frohne being the then word for travail. Why they were named foldfasten it

8549-416: The only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those days". In the time of Gregory the Great (590–604), there were apparently at Rome six weeks of six days each, making thirty-six fast days in all, which St. Gregory, who is followed therein by many medieval writers, describes as the spiritual tithing of the year, thirty-six days being approximately the tenth part of three hundred and sixty-five. At

8652-600: The original purpose. The Christian observance of the seasonal Ember days had its origin as an ecclesiastical ordinance in Rome and spread from there to the rest of the Western Church. They were known as the jejunium vernum, aestivum, autumnale and hiernale , so that to quote Pope Leo's words (A.D. 440–461) the law of abstinence might apply to every season of the year. In Leo's time, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were already days of special observance. In order to tie them to

8755-601: The public events and cultural responsibilities of urban life in the res publica and the sometimes luxurious life of the self-sufficient rural villa system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the Visigoths largely inherited the status quo in the early 5th century. Gallo-Roman language persisted in the northeast into the Silva Carbonaria that formed an effective cultural barrier, with

8858-465: The river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains and to that part of the ocean which is near Spain: it looks between the setting of the sun, and the north star. The Gauls practiced a form of animism , ascribing human characteristics to lakes, streams, mountains, and other natural features and granting them a quasi-divine status. Also, worship of animals was not uncommon; the animal most sacred to the Gauls

8961-619: The rule of the Merovingians , the first kings of France . Gallo-Roman culture, the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire, persisted particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania , Gallia Cisalpina and to a lesser degree, Aquitania . The formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, developed into Merovingian culture instead. Roman life, centered on

9064-569: The rules of fasting and abstinence, based on the "Crusader privileges" of the Spanish dominions as codified in the Bull of the Crusade . In some European colonies , the obligation to fast and abstain differed by race, with indigenous persons often having more lenient rules than European colonists and their descendants or mestizos . While the rules of abstinence generally only allow seafood, there are

9167-422: The society as a whole. The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the clan, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called pagi . Each clan had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui, a clan of Gaul, the executive held the title of Vergobret , a position much like a king, but his powers were held in check by rules laid down by

9270-632: The spread of early Celtic languages into Britain". The major source of early information on the Celts of Gaul was Poseidonios of Apamea , whose writings were quoted by Timagenes , Julius Caesar , the Sicilian Greek Diodorus Siculus , and the Greek geographer Strabo . In the 4th and early 3rd century BC, Gallic clan confederations expanded far beyond the territory of what would become Roman Gaul (which defines usage of

9373-458: The stricter rules of their Orthodox counterparts, the actual canonical obligations of Eastern Catholics to fast and abstain are usually much more lenient than those of the Orthodox. Eastern Christians view fasting as one part of repentance and supporting a spiritual change of heart. Eastern Christians observe two major times of fasting, the "Great Fast" before Easter, and "Phillip's Fast" before

9476-727: The substitution of pious or charitable acts for abstinence from meat on Fridays except Good Friday. Others abstain from eating meat on Lenten Fridays. The Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans reconciled to the Catholic Church follow the discipline of the Latin Church (of which they are a part) including the norms established by the Council of Catholic Bishops in whose territories they are erected and of which their Ordinaries are members. Thus, for example, in England,

9579-662: The summer fast in the second week of June, after Whitsunday ; the autumnal fast in the third week of September following the Exaltation of the Cross , September 14; and the winter fast in the complete week next before Christmas Eve, following St. Lucy's Day (Dec. 13). These dates are given in the following Latin mnemonic : Dat crux Lucia cineres charismata dia quod sit in angaria quarta sequens feria. Or in an old English rhyme: Fasting days and Emberings be Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie. "Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy"

9682-536: The supposedly "milk-white" skin (γάλα, gála "milk") of the Gauls. Modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu , Cornish : galloes , "capacity, power", thus meaning "powerful people". Despite its superficial similarity, the normal English translation of Gallia since the Middle Ages, Gaul , has a different origin than the Latin term. It stems from the French Gaule , itself deriving from

9785-719: The term "Gaul" today), into Pannonia, Illyria, northern Italy, Transylvania and even Asia Minor. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina . In his Gallic Wars , Julius Caesar distinguishes among three ethnic groups in Gaul: the Belgae in the north (roughly between the Rhine and the Seine), the Celtae in the center and in Armorica , and

9888-510: The third. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of [our] Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate

9991-679: The universal calendar of the church. The Saturdays of Quarter Tense were considered especially appropriate for priestly ordination. The days of Quarter Tense were, until the Second Vatican Council , times of obligatory fasting and abstinence . However, in Ireland, the obligation of abstinence (the complete avoidance of meat) on the Saturdays of Quarter Tense outside Lent was removed by the Vatican in 1912. The old dates in

10094-399: The use of Saturdays, though not necessarily Ember Saturdays, still prevails. Subsequently, Pentecost Vigil and the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (and Saturdays around it) have come much in use as ordination days. According to folklore, the weather conditions of each of the three days of an Embertide foretell the weather conditions for the following three months. In the folk meteorology of

10197-651: Was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans , encompassing present-day France , Belgium , Luxembourg , and parts of Switzerland , the Netherlands , Germany , and Northern Italy . It covered an area of 494,000 km (191,000 sq mi). According to Julius Caesar , who took control of the region on behalf of the Roman Republic , Gaul was divided into three parts: Gallia Celtica , Belgica , and Aquitania . Archaeologically,

10300-537: Was embraced earlier than in Gaul or Spain, and Christian sources connect the Ember Days observance with Augustine of Canterbury , AD. 597, said to be acting under the direct authority of Pope Gregory the Great. The precise dates appears to have varied considerably however, and in some cases, quite significantly, the Ember Weeks lost their connection with the Christian festivals altogether. Spain adopted them with

10403-541: Was exposed to raids by the Franks . The Gallic Empire , consisting of the provinces of Gaul, Britannia , and Hispania , including the peaceful Baetica in the south, broke away from Rome from 260 to 273. In addition to the large number of natives, Gallia also became home to some Roman citizens from elsewhere and also in-migrating Germanic and Scythian tribes such as the Alans . The religious practices of inhabitants became

10506-661: Was required, particularly the vigils of feasts of the Apostles and the Vigil of the Epiphany.) By 1959 in the United States, the fast for the vigil of Christmas was moved to December 23. Ember days occurred four times a year. The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the ember week were days of fast and abstinence, though the Wednesday and Saturday were often only days of partial abstinence. In addition, Catholics were required to abstain from meat (but not fast) on all other Fridays, unless

10609-447: Was the boar which can be found on many Gallic military standards, much like the Roman eagle . Their system of gods and goddesses was loose, there being certain deities which virtually every Gallic person worshipped, as well as clan and household gods. Many of the major gods were related to Greek gods; the primary god worshipped at the time of the arrival of Caesar was Teutates , the Gallic equivalent of Mercury . The "ancestor god" of

#763236