Ember days - from the Latin "QuattuorTempora" meaning "Four Seasons" - are traditional days of fasting and almsgiving for Western Christians.
The Four Embertides coincide with changes in the seasons and have been used by farmers to determine planting and harvesting times. Ember days fall on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the prescribed week:
Winter: St. Lucy Day (December 13)
Spring: Invocabit, The first Sunday in Lent
Summer: Pentecost
Fall: Holy Cross Day (September 14)
A Lutheran suggestion to the practice of fasting can be found here
These readings are meant to be part of the Divine Service, but of themselves serve as a good addition to fasting and almsgiving on Ember Days.
The Introit
Sing aloud to | God our strength;*
shout for joy to the God of | Jacob!
Raise a song; sound the | tambourine,*
the sweet lyre | with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the | new moon,*
at the full moon, on our | feast day.
For it is a statute for | Israel,*
a rule of the God of | Jacob.
He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over the land of | Egypt.*
I hear a language I | had not known:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Sing aloud to | God our strength;*
shout for joy to the God of | Jacob!
Raise a song; sound the | tambourine,*
the sweet lyre | with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the | new moon,*
at the full moon, on our | feast day.
For it is a statute for | Israel,*
a rule of the God of | Jacob.
The Collect of the Day
Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that our weakness may be upheld by the remedies of Thy mercy: so that, that which by its nature is always falling, may be lifted by Thy clemency; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
St. Peter Repentant, Mid- 17th century, by Ludolph Büsinck, German from the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The First Lesson
Amos 9:13-15
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
The Verse: Who is like the | LORD our God,*
who is seated | on high,
who looks | far down*
on the heavens | and the earth?
He raises the poor | from the dust*
and lifts the needy from the | ash heap,
The Collect: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to Thy supplicating servants: that while they abstain from food for their body, their heart may also fast from vices; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Epistle
Nehemiah 8:1-10
Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Christ Exorcising the Demons, 1630s, by Claude Vignon, French, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Holy Gospel
Mark 9:17-29
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Blessèd is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”