Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message
Rogation Days
May 17, 2017
Rogation Days are an ancient practice
seen rarely now in the Roman Catholic Church, but still observed in many parishes
of the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. “Rogation” comes from the Latin word rogare
“to ask.” Rogation Days are four
spring days where we pray for successful harvests and ask for God’s blessing
for the whole natural world. April 25 (also the Feast of St. Mark) is called Major
Rogation; the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding Ascension Thursday (this
year, May 25) are called the Minor Rogations.
Rogation Days were first observed as
such in 5th century France. Mamertus,
bishop of Vienne from 461 to 475, responded to nearly continuous plagues and
natural disasters by calling for prayer and fasting on the days leading up to
the Feast of the Ascension: “We shall pray to God that He will turn away the
plagues from us, and preserve us from all ill, from hail and drought, fire and
pestilence, and from the fury of our enemies; to give us favorable seasons,
that our land may be fertile, good weather and good health, and that we may
have peace and tranquility, and obtain pardon for our sins.” The practice caught on quickly elsewhere when
the string of disasters ended after the first rogation days. In 511, a local church council required all
churches in France to observe the three days. Pope Leo III in the 800s extended
the practice to the entire Western church.
These days in England later became the occasion of the “beating of the bounds,” where the congregation led by the priest walked the boundaries of the parish, blessing with holy water all its “marker” trees and stones, and chanted the Great Litany or a Litany of the Saints. Few parishes still observe the full rite, but many Episcopalians in private devotions pray for a bountiful harvest on Rogation Monday, commerce and industry on Tuesday, and the natural world on Wednesday. Most cathedral churches and many parishes hold outside prayers for all of these on the preceding Sunday, called Rogation Sunday (this year, May 21).
This coming Sunday is Rogation Sunday, and, as we have for the last few years at Trinity, we will have Rogation prayers at 9 a.m. in the Labyrinth. Our rite celebrates our gardens, farms, and the natural world, and gives us a chance to remember the symbolism of all the features and plantings in the Trinity Garden and Narthex Garden. It lasts just a little over a quarter hour.
These days in England later became the occasion of the “beating of the bounds,” where the congregation led by the priest walked the boundaries of the parish, blessing with holy water all its “marker” trees and stones, and chanted the Great Litany or a Litany of the Saints. Few parishes still observe the full rite, but many Episcopalians in private devotions pray for a bountiful harvest on Rogation Monday, commerce and industry on Tuesday, and the natural world on Wednesday. Most cathedral churches and many parishes hold outside prayers for all of these on the preceding Sunday, called Rogation Sunday (this year, May 21).
This coming Sunday is Rogation Sunday, and, as we have for the last few years at Trinity, we will have Rogation prayers at 9 a.m. in the Labyrinth. Our rite celebrates our gardens, farms, and the natural world, and gives us a chance to remember the symbolism of all the features and plantings in the Trinity Garden and Narthex Garden. It lasts just a little over a quarter hour.
All are welcome, and I would encourage
you to invite neighbors and friends to attend as well. It is a sweet and affirming ritual, and is
all about recognizing God in creation.
Grace and peace. –Fr. Tony+
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