The Diocese of Allentown invites the faithful to celebrate Summer Ember Days, observed Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week.

The diocese describes Ember Days as "quarterly observances with three days set aside to pray with gratitude for the blessings of the season" in a June 8 post on Facebook. 

"As we celebrate the Year of the Real Presence, Bishop Schlert encourages all the faithful to join him in observing the Summer Ember Days that begin today," the diocese states in the post. "These days offer a special time to pray for our newly ordained priest and deacon, as well as to ask the Master of the Harvest to send more laborers."

Ember Days, from the Latin "quattuor tempora," meaning “four times” or “four seasons.” are three days set aside for prayer and fasting at the approximate start of each season, spring, summer, autumn and winter, according to the Farmers Almanac. Ember Days also mark the beginning  of the seasons of the Catholic Church's liturgical year - Lent, Pentecost and Advent - according to a report by Catholic Culture, which notes September Ember Days fall closest to the autumnal equinox and outside the liturgical seasons.

Ember Days are observed on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after certain feast days. The Farmers Almanac reports those days are significant because "Wednesday was the day Christ was betrayed, Friday was the day He was crucified, and Saturday was the day He was entombed." 

Summer Ember Days, celebrated the week after Pentecost and near the summer solstice, are a time to give thanks for the wheat crop. Spring Ember Days, the week after Ash Wednesday, are to show gratitude for nature's rebirth and "the gift of light;" September, or Fall, Ember Days are observed after the Feast of the Holy Cross to express thanks for the grape harvest; and Winter Ember Days are during the third week of Advent, after the Feast of St. Lucy, and are a time to give thanks for the olive crop, according to the Farmers Almanac and Catholic Culture. 

The Diocese of Allentown instructs the faithful to observe this week's Ember Days by abstaining from all meat, consuming one full meal a day, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, reciting the Rosary and receiving the Sacrament of Penance, it states on Facebook.

The diocese also shared this prayer of intercession: "O Lord, grant, by the intercession of blessed Mary Ever-Virgin and of all the saints, laborers for thy Church, fellow workers for Christ in the field who will spend and consume themselves for souls. Amen."