**QUATTRO TEMPORA** (also known as *quattuor temporum*). — The three days of fasting and penance (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) at the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year, referred to by Leo I (d. 461) and in ancient liturgical books as *ieiunium mensis primi* (of March, i.e., spring), *mensis quarti* (of June, i.e., summer), *mensis septimi* (of September, i.e., autumn), and *mensis decimi* (of December, i.e., winter). From the 8th century onward, they have been called the *Quattuor Tempora* (Q. T.). Liturgically, they are termed “greater privileged ferias.”
For the spring and summer *Tempora*, there was not always an exact uniformity in their celebration. The spring *Tempora*, sometimes observed in the first week of March, were established—perhaps by Gelasius I—during the first week of Lent. The summer *Tempora*, initially in the week of Pentecost, were later transferred by Leo I to the second or third week after Pentecost. Gregory VII, in the Paschal Synod of 1078, restored them to their original place. Thus, their fixed order and placement are as follows: in the first week of Lent, in the octave of Pentecost, after the feast of the Holy Cross on September 14, and in the third week of Advent (between the second and third Sundays). These are days of fasting and penance to attract God’s blessings upon the fruits of the earth and to give thanks for the harvest. Gelasius I added the characteristic feature of ecclesiastical ordinations.
The *Tempora* are of Roman origin; according to the *Liber Pontificalis*, they were introduced into the liturgy by Pope Callistus (d. 223), though this account is uncertain. Leo I is the first to mention them (Sermon XIX, 8, 2: PL 54, 459) as something long in use. Outside Rome, their spread was slow. By the 6th century, they were still unknown in Capua, and by the 7th century, in Naples. In England, they were introduced by St. Augustine in the 7th century; in Germany by St. Boniface in the 8th; in Verona by Ratasio in the 10th; and in Milan after the 12th century.
Their origin is debated. L. Duchesne suggests that the *Tempora* are remnants of the primitive liturgical week, with two seasonal fast days on Wednesday and Friday, including Saturday in preparation for Sunday. Over time, as discipline relaxed, Rome maintained at least one such observance in each season of the year. However, seasonal fasting was already observed in Rome during the time of Innocent I (416) and St. Augustine (d. 430), shortly before Leo I. G. Morin, on the other hand, sees them as Christian substitutions for the pagan *feriae messis* of June, *feriae vindemiales* of September, and *feriae sementinae* of December, corresponding to the harvest of grain, the gathering of wine, and the sowing. This hypothesis is supported by the prayers of the sacramentaries and the lections. Similar to these agricultural pagan festivals, the Roman liturgy announces the *Tempora* with formulas found in the so-called Leonian and Gelasian Sacramentaries. The spring *Tempora* were added in the 4th century to complete the annual cycle; yet because they regularly fall during Lent, they are not mentioned in documents, though Gelasius I, like the other three *Tempora*, gave them a special significance as a time for ordinations.
Others (e.g., L. Fischer) reject this Christian adaptation of pagan solemnities and declare the *Tempora* to be purely Christian institutions for sanctifying the seasons through fasting: after Pentecost, fasting resumes weekly after the Paschal season of joy; in autumn, an influence of the Jewish fast of atonement is seen (Lev. 23:27–32; cf. the Saturday lection of the *Tempora*); and in December, they prepare for the traditional Roman ordinations. The idea of harvest solemnity influenced the Q. T. of Pentecost and September, or at most during Leo’s time. The other two are framed within the quasi-similar ideas of the time and Advent. The *Tempora* of Pentecost, autumn, and December are older, introduced by Callistus; those of spring, already existing in Leo’s time, received their liturgy perhaps from Gelasius, with readings (1 Thess. 4:1–7; 5:14–23) transferred from their original Advent place to Lent. Characteristic of the Q. T., besides fasting and seasonal service, is the number of readings (2 on Wednesday and originally perhaps 6, or 12 on Saturday), in addition to the Gospel and the Saturday vigil into Sunday.