Lenten Embertide

Lenten Embertide:
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Quadragesima Sunday (the first Sunday of Lent) are known as “Lenten Embertide,” which, depending on the date of Easter, can come as early as February 11, but which is seen as associated with the season of Spring (March, April, May). Liturgically, the lessons for the Wednesday and Saturday Masses focus on the Commandments given to Moses by God, and on the promises to those who keep them well, all ending with the story of the three lads saved by an angel from Nabuchodonosor’s furnace, as is so for all but Whit Embertide.

The Gospel readings speak of Our Lord discoursing on the sign of Jonas, and how exorcised spirits can return (Matthew 12:38-50), healing the paralytic (John 5:1-15), and the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9)

“Spring is the fulfillment of Winter’s hope, beginning in rain and ending in a riot of birth and rebirth. How perfect, then, that we begin it all with the Lenten fast and the commemoration of Christ’s Passion, and end with Easter, when Christ vanquishes His tomb, and catechumens are born again by water and Spirit! Sensually, Spring is a season of trees done up in green with pastel trim… the breathtaking blue of a robin’s egg… the cool, waxy pleasure of tulip petals against the skin… butterflies fickle to flowers they mimic with their delicate wings… newborn animals struggling to open their eyes and see the world they help make beautiful.”

HT Another Day in Paradise for this link.

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