Autumn Ember Days (Sept 17,19,20)
September 17, 2025
Ember Day in Autumn
Introduction
Following ancient customs, deserving of revival in our times, the church marks four seasons with the observance of the Ember Days of prayer and abstinence. Those of winter and autumn, falling near the solstice and equinox respectively, hew most closely in the Northern Hemisphere to the seasons of nature. The Ember Days of September are observed on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the Feast of the Holy Cross on September 14; hence, this year on September 17, 19 and 20 with the equinox falling on September 22. These closing days of summer and the approach of autumn give to these ember days a special character related to the harvest and call forth gratitude and thanksgiving for God's bounty. They also bear traces, especially in the readings, of their roots in Judaism and as such evoke much of the spirit contained in the High Holy Days which begin with Rosh Hashana (September 22-24) and conclude on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. (October 1-2) with the week-long festival of Sukkot coming soon after (October 6-13). This service may be used on any one of the three ember days.
Opening Acclamations and Confession
Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the universe. R/. Your word brings on the dusk of evening. Your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time. R/. You arrange the succession of seasons and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
The Lord of hosts is your name. R/. Living and eternal God, rule over us always. Blessed be the Lord, whose word makes evening fall.
We confess our sin, and the sins of our society, in the misuse of God’s creation.
God our Father, we are sorry for the times when we have used your gifts carelessly, and acted ungratefully. Hear our prayer, and in your mercy: R/. forgive us and help us.
We enjoy the fruits of the harvest, but sometimes forget that you have given them to us. Father, in your mercy: R/. forgive us and help us.
We belong to a people who are full and satisfied, but ignore the cry of the hungry. Father, in your mercy: R/. forgive us and help us.
We are thoughtless, and do not care enough for the world you have made. Father, in your mercy: R/. forgive us and help us.
We store up goods for ourselves alone, as if there were no God and no heaven. Father, in your mercy: R/. forgive us and help us.
(Church of England)
Opening Collect
Pour down your blessings on your people, Lord God, that through your goodness our land may bear an abundant harvest to be enjoyed in grateful praise of your holy name.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
First Reading (Lev 23, 26-32)
In those days the Lord said to Moses, "The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement, when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves and offer an oblation to the Lord. On this day you shall not do any work, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord, your God. Anyone who does not mortify himself on this day shall be cut off from his people; and if anyone does any work on this day, I will remove him from the midst of his people. This is a perpetual statute for you and your descendants wherever you dwell: you shall do no work, but shall keep a sabbath of complete rest and mortify yourselves. Beginning on the evening of the ninth of the month, you shall keep this sabbath of yours from evening to evening, says the Lord Almighty."
Musical Selection
Collect
God, Creator and Provider, yours is the earth and its fullness, the mighty oceans teeming with life. Help us to tend wisely what is ours in trust. Prosper the work of our hands and multiply the harvests of land and sea for the good of peoples everywhere and the glory of your name.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
Second Reading (Lev 23, 39-43)
In those days the Lord said to Moses: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast of the Lord for a whole week. The first and the eighth day shall be days of complete rest. On the first day you shall gather foliage from majestic trees, branches of palms and boughs of myrtles and of valley poplars, and then for a week you shall make merry before the Lord, your God. By perpetual statute for you and your descendants you shall keep this pilgrim feast of the Lord for one whole week in the seventh month of the year. During this week every native Israelite among you shall dwell in booths, that your descendants may realize that, when I led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, I made them dwell in booths, I, the Lord, am your God.”
Musical Selection
Collect
O God, you give us the fruits of the earth and you nurture those of the spirit. Bless the work of our hands, that we may reap an abundant harvest and use for your honour and glory all that comes from your providence.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
Third Reading (Mich 7, 14, 16 and 18-20)
O Lord our God Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, That dwells apart in a woodland, as in the days of old; The nations shall behold and be put to shame, in spite of all their strength; Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins; You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from days of old, O Lord our God.
Musical Selection
Collect
Lord and Father of all goodness, in your providence you have entrusted the earth to our care; grant that we may be sustained by the produce we harvest and that by your help we may use the fruits of the earth for your glory
and for the benefit of our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
Fourth Reading (Zach. 8, l4-19)
In those days the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: As I determined to harm you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I did not relent, so again in these days I have determined to favor Jerusalem and the house of Juda; do not fear! These then are the things you should do: Speak the truth to one another; let there be honesty and peace in the judgments at your gates, and let none of you plot evil against another in his heart, nor love a false oath. For all these things I hate, says the Lord. This word of the Lord of hosts came to me: Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast days of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months shall become occasions of joy and gladness, cheerful festivals for the house of Juda; only love faithfulness and peace: says the Lord of hosts.
Musical Selection
Collect
We give thanks, O Lord, for the harvest which the earth has produced for our good; as your providence has provided these fruits of the earth, so may the seeds of charity and justice bear fruit in our hearts.
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
Musical Selection