Rogation Days
According to The Book of Common Prayer (BCP), Rogation Days, traditionally observed on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. Rogation Sunday may be observed on The Sixth Sunday of Easter.
Traditionally, the litany is sung (or recited) in procession as an act of intercession. They originated in Vienne, France, in the fifth century when Bishop Mamertus introduced days of fasting and prayer to ward off a threatened disaster. In England they were associated with the blessing of the fields at planting. The vicar “beat the bounds” of the parish, processing around the fields reciting psalms and the litany. In the United States they have been associated with rural life and with agriculture and fishing. The propers in the BCP (pp. 207-208, 258-259, 930) have widened their scope to include commerce and industry and the stewardship of creation. The BCP also permits their celebration at other times to accommodate different regional growing seasons. The BOS contains material for a Rogation procession, including petitions to be added to the Great Litany and the prayers of the people. The term is from the Latin rogatio, “asking.” *
* From An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians, Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors, https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/
Photos from this year’s Rogation Sunday at Church of the Redeemer, Oak Ridge with St. Andrew’s, Mer Rouge. The Very Rev’d Dawnell Stodghill blesses crosses that were carried to other local fields and gardens.
