Ember days

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Ember days (OE, ymbren). Four groups of three days (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) in the W. church year, fast days ‘around’ or ‘about’ four seasons, Advent (mid-Dec.), Lent (Ash Wednesday), Pentecost, and Holy Cross Day (14 Sept.), kept as days of fasting and abstinence. They are now associated, as days of preparation, with ordination.

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