When we examine more closely the order of lections, we notice they do not harmonise with the ideas presented by the different parts of the ecclesiastical year, as now existing, but they do agree with the form which it took in the earliest stages of its development. The consequence is that the lections are appropriately chosen for the pascal season and for Whitsuntide, but do not fit in with the festal character of Advent and the Christmas cycle. As we have said, the ecclesiastical year began originally with the preparation for Easter, _i.e._ Lent. The lections from the five books of Moses which start with Septuagesima were then in their proper place, treating as they do of the fall and the divine scheme for man’s restoration. C. OTHER INCIDENTS IN THE CHURCH’S YEAR 1. _The Embertides_ The Embertides[401] are peculiar to the Western or Roman Church. In Rome they have been observed from the earliest times, and so Leo the Great was inclined to ascribe to them an apostolic origin. This Pope connects them with the four seasons of the year,[402] and gives them a special signification in as much as we then give God due honour and praise for the gifts He gives us to support our bodily life. Again, they move us to make a good use of the gifts thus bestowed, to abstain from superfluities, and to impart our gifts generously to those in need. We must neither murmur over the fewness of some gifts, nor be discontented with the excess of others, as may even sometimes happen. God’s will should be our will.[403] The Embertides in general, but especially that of December, he directly connects with agriculture and the harvest (_ut omnium fructum collectione conclusa_, etc., _Sermo 16_, c. 2); and the earliest liturgies[404] contain prayers for the same purpose; such indications as these give us the clue to the origin of these fasts. By them practices originally heathen have assumed a Christian form and character. The Romans, originally, were compelled to be an agricultural people, and their gods were for the most part deities who presided over agriculture, as Tertullian early remarked (Sterculus, Epona, Mutunus, etc.), and their worship was closely connected with the stages of cultivation. The chief incidents were accompanied by religious ceremonies and usages. A blessing was asked on the sowing of the seed at the _feriæ sementivæ_, observed between the end of November and the Winter solstice, _i.e._ in December. At the time of harvest, the _feriæ messis_ were celebrated, and at the vintage, the _feriæ vindemiales_.[405]