The Lenten Ember Days, traditionally celebrated in the week following the first Sunday of this penitential season, date back to the early days of the Roman Church, constituting one of the most venerable and ancient liturgical customs. The institution of the Four Ember Days (Quatuor Tempora) was initially conceived to sanctify the four seasons of the year through fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, thanking God for the fruits of the earth and begging for His blessing. In the specific context of Lent, Ember Wednesday acquires an eminently ecclesial and vocational character, as it was the day designated in classical Roman antiquity for the scrutiny, where the candidates to Holy Orders were publicly presented to the Bishop and the Christian people. The Church, in her wisdom, determined a rigorous fast for the entire Christian community in order to purify intentions and beg God for holy and zealous priests. Furthermore, the stational celebration of this Wednesday took place at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the principal Marian church of Rome, placing under the sacred mantle of the Virgin Mary not only the penitential sacrifice of the faithful, but also the vocation and purity of those who would soon be ordained ministers of the altar, uniting the people in a unanimous supplication so that the Church might be spiritually strengthened in the face of the battles of the Lenten desert.
🎵 Introit (Ps 89, 1 and 2 | ib., 2)
Reminíscere miseratiónum tuárum, Dómine, et misericórdiæ tuæ, quæ a sǽculo sunt: ne umquam dominéntur nobis inimíci nostri: líbera nos, Deus Israël, ex ómnibus angústiis nostris. Ps. Ad te, Dómine, levávi ánimam meam: Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam.
Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your mercies, which are from of old; let not our enemies triumph over us. Deliver us, O God of Israel, from all our distresses. Ps. To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame.
📜 I reading (Ex 24, 12-18)
In diébus illis: Dixit Dóminus ad Móysen: Ascénde ad me in montem, et esto ibi: dabóque tibi tábulas lapídeas, et legem ac mandáta quæ scripsi: ut dóceas fílios Israël. Surrexérunt Moyses et Josue miníster ejus: ascendénsque Moyses in montem Dei, senióribus ait: Exspectáte hic, donec revertámur ad vos. Habétis Aaron et Hur vobíscum: si quid natum fuerit quæstiónis, referétis ad eos. Cumque ascendísset Moyses, opéruit nubes montem, et habitávit glória Dómini super Sínai, tegens illum nube sex diébus: séptimo autem die vocávit eum de médio calíginis. Erat autem spécies glóriæ Dómini, quasi ignis ardens super vérticem montis; in conspéctu filiórum Israël. Ingressúsque Móyses médium nébulæ, ascéndit in montem: et fuit ibi quadragínta diébus et quadragínta nóctibus.
In those days, the Lord said to Moses: Come up to Me on the mountain, and remain there; and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have written the law and the commandments, that you may teach them to the children of Israel. Moses and Joshua, his minister, rose up. And Moses went up to the mountain of God and said to the elders: Wait here, until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; if any question arises, refer it to them. And Moses having gone up, the cloud covered the mountain and the glory of the Lord rested upon Sinai, wrapping it in the cloud for six days. On the seventh day, however, God called Moses from the midst of the darkness [of the cloud]. Now, the glory of the Lord manifested itself to the children of Israel, like a burning fire on the top of the mountain. And entering into the midst of the cloud, Moses went up the mountain and remained there forty days and forty nights.
📖 II reading (III Kings 19, 3-8)
In diébus illis: Venit Elías in Bersabée Juda, et dimísit ibi púerum suum, et perréxit in desértum, viam uníus diéi. Cumque venísset, et sedéret subter unam juníperum, petívit ánimæ suæ, ut morerétur, et ait: Súfficit mihi, Dómine, tolle ánimam meam: neque enim mélior sum quam patres mei. Projecítque se, et obdormívit in umbra juníperi: et ecce, Angelus Dómini tétigit eum, et dixit illi: Surge et cómede. Respéxit, et ecce ad caput suum subcinerícius panis, et vas aquæ: comédit ergo et bibit, et rursum obdormívit. Reversúsque est Angelus Dómini secundo, et tétigit eum, dixítque illi: Surge, cómede: grandis enim tibi restat via. Qui cum surrexísset, comédit et bibit, et ambulávit in fortitúdine cibi illíus quadragínta diébus et quadragínta nóctibus, usque ad montem Dei Horeb.
In those days, Elijah came to Beersheba of Judah and dismissed his servant there. And he went a day's journey into the desert. Having arrived there, he sat under a juniper tree and prayed for death for his soul. And he said: It is enough for me, Lord, take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers. And he lay down on the ground, and fell asleep in the shade of the juniper tree. And behold, the Angel of the Lord touched him and said to him: Arise and eat. Elijah looked, and saw, near his head, a hearth cake baked under the ashes, and a vessel of water; he ate, therefore, drank and fell asleep again. The Angel of the Lord returned a second time, touched him and said to him: Arise and eat, because a long journey remains for you. Having arisen, he ate and drank, and, in the strength of that food, he walked forty days and forty nights, unto the mountain of God, called Horeb.
✝️ Gospel (Mt 12, 38-50)
In illo témpore: Respondérunt Jesu quidam de scribis et pharisǽis, dicéntes: Magíster, vólumus a te signum vidére. Qui respóndens, ait illis: Generátio mala et adúltera signum quærit: et signum non dábitur ei, nisi signum Jonæ Prophétæ. Sicut enim fuit Jonas in ventre ceti tribus diébus et tribus nóctibus: sic erit Fílius hóminis in corde terræ tribus diébus et tribus nóctibus. Viri Ninivítæ surgent in judício cum generatióne ista, et condemnábunt eam: quia pæniténtiam egérunt in prædicatióne Jonæ. Et ecce plus quam Jonas hic. Regína Austri surget in judício cum generatióne ista, et condemnábit eam: quia venit a fínibus terræ audire sapiéntiam Salomónis. Et ecce plus quam Sálomon hic. Cum autem immúndus spíritus exíerit ab hómine, ámbulat per loca árida, quærens réquiem, et non invénit. Tunc dicit: Revértar in domum meam, unde exívi. Et véniens invénit eam vacántem, scopis mundátam, et ornátam. Tunc vadit, et assúmit septem álios spíritus secum nequióres se, et intrántes hábitant ibi: et fiunt novíssima hóminis illíus pejóra prióribus. Sic erit et generatióni huic péssimæ. Adhuc eo loquénte ad turbas, ecce, Mater ejus et fratres stabant foris, quæréntes loqui ei. Dixit autem ei quidam: Ecce, mater tua et fratres tui foris stant, quæréntes te. At ipse respóndens dicénti sibi, ait: Quæ est mater mea, et qui sunt fratres mei? Et exténdens manum in discípulos suos, dixit: Ecce mater mea et fratres mei. Quicúmque enim fécerit voluntátem Patris mei, qui in cœlis est: ipse meus frater et soror et mater est.
At that time, some of the scribes and Pharisees addressed Jesus, saying: Master, we would very much like to see some sign from You. But He answering them, said: This evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no other sign shall be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth: The men of Nineveh will rise up in the day of judgment against this generation and will condemn it, for they did penance at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, here is one who is greater than Jonah. The queen of the south [of Sheba] will rise up in the day of judgment against this generation and will condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, here is one who is greater than Solomon. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says: I will return to my house, from where I came out. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept and decorated. Then he goes, and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering, they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it also happen to this wicked generation. While He was still speaking to the people, behold, His Mother and His brethren stood outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him: Behold, Your Mother and Your brethren stand outside, seeking You. But He answering him that told Him, said: Who is My Mother, and who are My brethren? And stretching forth His hand toward His disciples, He said: Behold My mother and My brethren. For whoever shall do the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, my sister and my mother.
🍞 The bread of the desert and the sign of Jonah in the furnace of affliction
The cry of the Introit, which begs God for deliverance from all distresses and cries out so that the enemies may not triumph, finds a profound echo in today's Gospel. The adulterous generation demands visible signs and worldly glory, but the Divine Master offers only the austere and mysterious sign of the prophet Jonah. Saint Jerome, in his Commentaries on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, teaches that Jonah's rest in the belly of the whale is the exact prefiguration of Christ's Passion and descent into hell, an apparent triumph of the enemies that, in truth, prepared the victorious explosion of the Resurrection. In order not to be overcome by our distresses, we must descend with Christ into the mystery of annihilation and fasting. It is not enough to empty the soul through penance, leaving the house "swept and decorated," but empty of God's grace, for such spiritual idleness attracts worse demons. The true protection against infernal attacks is to actively occupy the soul with the divine will. For this reason, pointing to His disciples, the Lord declares that the true consanguinity with Him lies in obedience. Saint Augustine (Sermon 72) corroborates this mystery by affirming that the Virgin Mary was more blessed for having conceived faith in Christ in her heart, perfectly fulfilling the will of the Father, than for having borne the flesh of the Son of God in her womb.
The path to achieving this firmness of will in the midst of the desert of life is illuminated by the Old Testament readings, which respond in a comforting way to the Introit's plea for mercy. We see the grandiose figure of Moses enduring forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, and the moving exhaustion of the prophet Elijah, who, desiring death under a juniper tree, is sustained by angelic food to walk the same period to Horeb. Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, points out that the hearth cake baked under the ashes given to Elijah is a clear prefiguration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. The mercy of God, "which is from of old," does not abandon the soul that trusts in Him, providing the Bread of Heaven so that it may not faint. This divine viaticum is especially vital for the candidates to Holy Orders, remembered in the liturgy of these Ember Days, who, clothing themselves with the fortitude of that supernatural food, ascend the sacred mountain to become ministers of the burning fire of the Holy Spirit, which once rested upon the summit of Sinai.
In this way, the ascetism of the desert, rigorous purification, and filial obedience intertwine in the forge of holiness. The Lenten fast, in imitation of the forty days of Moses and Elijah, empties us of earthly futilities, not to leave the heart wandering in arid places, but to prepare it as a worthy dwelling place for the Son of God. Nourished by the true Bread baked in the furnace of divine love, we are strengthened against all despair and weariness. Only in this way, sustained by this mystery of death and life prefigured in the belly of the whale, do we pass from the condition of culprits condemned by the wicked generation to the intimate glory of being called mother, brothers, and sisters of the Lord, already experiencing on this earth the deliverance from all distresses promised to those who trust entirely in eternal mercy.