As Holy Church leads us through the sacred Ember Days of September—those days of penitence and supplication marking the change of seasons and beseeching God for the sanctification of time, vocations, and harvest—we come today to Feria Sexta, the Ember Friday. It is a day steeped in compunction and expectation, yet also in divine mercy, as reflected in today’s poignant readings from the Prophet Osee and the Gospel according to St. Luke.
“Convertimini ad Dominum Deum vestrum”
Osee 14:2-10
“Return, O Israel, to the Lord thy God: for thou hast fallen down by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord.” (Osee 14:2-3)
The voice of the prophet, rising from a land wounded by sin and idolatry, calls Israel—and by extension, each soul—to return to the merciful embrace of the Lord. It is a call not to shallow sorrow, but to interior repentance, to return with words of confession and hearts of contrition.
St. Jerome, in his commentary on the Twelve Prophets, sees in this passage the image of a Church adorned not with the sacrifices of goats and calves, but with the “calves of our lips”—the verbal offerings of penitent hearts, echoing Hebrews 13:15. This is a repentance rooted in love, not merely in fear of punishment.
Here we also hear the Lord’s gracious response to such a return:
“I will heal their breaches, I will love them freely: for My wrath is turned away from them.” (Osee 14:5)
It is God Himself who heals, who restores. Not by merit of our works, but by His infinite mercy.
St. Augustine, preaching on such passages, speaks thus:
“God does not delay to forgive, when He sees true sorrow for sin. He is more eager to cleanse than we are to be cleansed.”
Indeed, Osee teaches us that conversion is never simply moral improvement, but a return to God’s own Heart, from which life flows like the dew upon the lily.
“Remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit multum”
Luke 7:36-50
In the Gospel, we are transported to the house of Simon the Pharisee, where a woman—known only for her sins—enters with boldness and tears. There is a silent harmony between this scene and the penitential themes of Osee. Both the sinful woman and Israel are beckoned to return; both do so not merely with ritual but with love.
St. Gregory the Great, in his Homiliae in Evangelia, offers a profound insight into the soul of this woman:
“She washed the feet of the Lord with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them with her lips, anointed them with ointment. What she had used in sin, she now offers in penance.”
Her body, once an instrument of sin, is now consecrated in an act of loving reparation.
The Pharisee judges the Lord’s knowledge and the woman’s worthiness. But Jesus, reading hearts, shows that true justice is not measured by social piety but by inward charity. “Her many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much” (Luke 7:47).
This is not to suggest her love earned forgiveness, but rather—as St. Ambrose teaches—it is the fruit and sign of the forgiveness already beginning to operate in her heart:
“She came because she had already begun to be healed. She wept because she had already begun to be loved.” (Commentary on Luke)
It is the mystery of grace preceding and eliciting repentance, not as a reward, but as a movement of divine mercy upon a wounded soul.
The Ember Day Spirit and the Virgin Martyrs
Today’s liturgy, in the context of the Ember Days, invites us to join this rhythm of return, repentance, and renewal. As in ancient Israel, so now: we must bring “the calves of our lips,” the tears of contrition, and the perfume of charity. The penitential fast of today is not sterile asceticism—it is the soul’s hunger for communion with the Lord.
In the Commemoration of Saints Cyprian and Justina, we see two souls who embodied, in very different ways, the mystery of conversion and grace. Cyprian, once a magician and persecutor, was converted through the faith and prayer of the virgin Justina. She, pure and steadfast, overcame demonic temptation by the sign of the Cross.
Together they remind us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy and that victory is found not in strength but in fidelity. Their martyrdom seals their witness in blood, even as today’s Gospel seals the woman’s repentance in tears.
Conclusion: The Gift of Tears
On this Ember Friday, let us ask for the gift of compunction, that holy sorrow which springs from love and leads to love.
May we learn to approach Our Lord as the woman in the Gospel did: not presuming on His mercy, but clinging to it; not hiding our sin, but weeping over it.
Let us return, as Osee urges, with humble words.
Let us love, as the Gospel woman did, with bold hearts.
Let us fast and pray, as the Church enjoins us, with a lively faith.
“Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting, in weeping, and in mourning.” (Joel 2:12 – traditionally read during Ember Days)
May Ss. Cyprian and Justina intercede for us in our own conversions, that our penance may be perfect and our love unfeigned.
Liturgical Note:
Today’s Mass (Feria Sexta Quattuor Temporum Septembris) includes the traditional Ember Friday structure with multiple lessons, the Gradual with Alleluia, and a Gospel which serves not only as proclamation but as spiritual medicine.
Let us not pass lightly over these days, but use them as the Church intends: as times of recollection, amendment, and renewal under the grace of the Holy Ghost.
Suggested Prayer (based on today’s readings):
O Lord, who dost forgive the sins of the penitent and call back the lost sheep, grant us the grace of true compunction and the courage to love Thee much, that we may be washed clean by Thy mercy and renewed in Thy grace. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.