Wikipedia

Rogation days

"Rogation" redirects here. For other uses, seeRogation (disambiguation).

Rogation daysare days of prayer and fasting inWestern Christianity.They are observed with processions and theLitany of the Saints.The so-calledmajorrogation is held on 25 April;[a]theminorrogations are held on Monday to Wednesday precedingAscension Thursday.[1]The wordrogationcomes from theLatinverbrogare,meaning "to ask", which reflects the beseeching of God for the appeasement of his anger and for protection from calamities.[2][3]

Rogation days
Blessing the Fields on Rogation Sunday atHever, Kentin 1967
Observed byChristians
Liturgical colorViolet
ObservancesFasting and processions
Date25 April (Major)
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding Ascension Thursday (Minor)
2023 date25 April; 15–17 May
2024 date25 April; 6–8 May
2025 date25 April; 26–28 May
Frequencyannual
Related toAscension Thursday

Rogation Sundayis celebrated on the 5th Sunday after Easter (also known as the 6th Sunday of Easter) in theAnglicantradition.[4][5]This day is also known in theLutherantradition as Rogate Sunday.[6]

Christian beginnings

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The Christian major rogation replaced a paganRomanprocession known asRobigalia,at which a dog was sacrificed to propitiate Robigus, the deity of agricultural disease.[7][2]The practitioners observing Robigalia asked Robigus for protection of their crops fromwheat rust.[2]

The minor Rogation days were introduced around AD 470 byMamertus,bishop of Vienne,and eventually adopted elsewhere. Their observance was ordered by theCouncil of Orleansin 511, and though the practice was spreading inGaulduring the 7th century, it was not officially adopted into theRoman riteuntil the reign ofPope Leo III(died 816).[8]

The faithful typically observed the Rogation days byfasting and abstinencein preparation to celebrate theAscension,and farmers often had their crops blessed by a priest at this time.[9]Violetvestmentsare worn at the rogation litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what colour is worn at the ordinary liturgies of the day.[2]

A common feature of Rogation days in former times was the ceremony ofbeating the bounds,in which a procession of parishioners, led by the minister, churchwarden, andchoirboys,would proceed around the boundary of theirparishand pray for its protection in the forthcoming year. This was also known in the northern parts of England as 'Gang-day' or 'gan week', after the old English name for going or walking.[10]This was also a feature of the original Roman festival, when revellers would walk to a grove five miles from the city to perform their rites.[7]Thomas Johnson(1633), speaking of the birch tree, mentions another name: Cross-week: "It serveth well to the decking up of houses and banquetting-rooms, for places of pleasure, and for beautifying of streets in the Crosse or Gang Week, and such like."[11]

In the British Isles

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Woodcut illustration of Pre-Reformation processional order, c. early 16th century

The Rogation Day ceremonies are thought to have arrived in theBritish Islesin the 7th century.

The oldest knownSarumtext regarding Rogation Days is dated from around 1173 to 1220.[10]In it, celebrations in the south of England are described, in which processions were led by members of the congregation carrying banners which represented various biblical characters. At the head of the procession was the dragon, representingPontius Pilate,which would be followed by a lion, representingChrist.After this there would be images of saints carried by the rest of the congregation.[12]Many torches were present at each procession, weighing between 42 lb (19 kg) and 27 lbs (12 kg), which were bought by the church and parishioners jointly.[13]

Sarumtexts from the 13th and 15th centuries show that the dragon was eventually moved to the rear of the procession on the vigil of the Ascension, with the lion taking the place at the front. Illustrations of the procession from the early 16th century show that the arrangements had been changed yet again, this time also showing bearers ofreliquariesandincense.[12]

During the reign of KingHenry VIII,Rogation processions were used as a way to assist crop yields, with a notable number of the celebrations taking place in 1543 when there were prolonged rains.

During the reign ofKing Edward VI,the Crown having taken much of theChurch's holdings within the country, liturgical ceremonies were not officially condoned or recognized as an official part of worship. However, in the reign of QueenElizabeth Ithe celebrations were explicitly mentioned in theroyal reformation,allowing them to resume as public processions.[14]

Rogation processions continued in the post-ReformationChurch of Englandmuch as they had before, andAnglicanpriests were encouraged to bring their congregations together for inter-parish processions. At specific intervals, clerics were to remind their congregations to be thankful for their harvests.Psalms103 and 104 were sung, and people were reminded of the curses the Bible ascribed to those who violated agricultural boundaries. The processions were not mandatory, but were at the discretion of the local minister, and were also ascribed more importance when a public right of way needed to be protected from agricultural or other expansion.[14]

The marches would follow prescribed routes, with York and Coventry being unique in their followingroyal entries.[15]On other routes, altars were erected at certain locations whereantiphonswere sung.[16]

AnyRoman Catholicimagery or icons were banned from the processions. The then Archdeacon of Essex,Grindal of London,besought the church explicitly to label the tradition as a perambulation of the parish boundaries (beating the bounds), further to distance it from the Catholic liturgy. In the bookSecond Tome of Homelys,a volume containing officially sanctioned homilies of the Elizabethan church, it was made clear that the English Rogation was to remember town and other communal boundaries in a social and historical context, with extra emphasis on the stability gained from lawful boundary lines.[14]

For years after Rogation Days were recognized, the manner in which they were observed in reality was very different from the official decree. Even before religious sensibilities turned towards thepuritanical,there were concerns about the lack of piety at such events.[17]While it was officially ordered that the entire congregation attend, bishops began urging their priests to invite only older and more pious men. This, they believed, would stop the drunken revelry. Royal Injunctions concerning the practice were reinterpreted to restrict and regulate participants of the festivities.[14]Robert Herrickpenned a piece to capture the mood of the celebrations before their repression:

Dearest, bury me
Under that Holy-oak, or Gospel Tree
Where (though thou see'st not) thou may'st think upon
Me, when you yearly go'st Procession.[citation needed]

In London, Rogation Days, just likeEasterorHocktide,were times when begging was "legitimate" for the period of celebration.[18]Though not widely celebrated in the modernChurch of England,the holiday is still observed in some areas.[19]

In the Americas

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Catholic

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The reform of the Liturgical Calendar for Roman Catholics in 1969 delegated the establishment of Rogation Days, along withEmber Days,to theepiscopal conferences.[20]Their observance in the Latin Church subsequently declined, but the observance has revived somewhat since Pope John Paul II allowed Rogation days as a permitted, but not mandated, observance.[19]For those Catholics who continue to celebrate Mass according to theGeneral Roman Calendar of 1960or earlier, the Rogation Days are still kept, unless a higher ranking feast would occur on the day.[21]

Anglican

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The new, Protestant version of the Rogation days became such a fixture in Church life that the tradition was carried over to the English churches across the British Empire, including to the Americas by British colonists in Bermuda,Jamaica,Barbados,Virginia andSouth Carolina.[22]Rogation days continue as an optional observance in theEpiscopal Church,[23]and in Anglican Provinces around the world. Although early Rogation celebrations were associated with rural life, agriculture and fishing, theBook of Common Prayerin many jurisdictions has been expanded to includepropersfor commerce and industry and the stewardship of creation, as well as a fruitful season, and rubrics were added for their use.[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^In the rare circumstance ofEaster Sundayfalling on 25 April, the major rogation is transferred to the Tuesday after Easter (cf.Code of Rubricsof 1960, no. 80); this will next occur in 2038.

References

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  1. ^Reff, Daniel T. (2005).Plagues, Priests, and Demons: Sacred Narratives and the Rise of Christianity in the Old World and the New.Cambridge University Press. p. 100.ISBN9781139442787.
  2. ^abcdDues, Greg (1993).Catholic Customs & Traditions: A Popular Guide.Twenty-Third Publications. pp.39.ISBN9780896225152.Robigalia.
  3. ^Mershman 1912.
  4. ^Rogation Days: A Rookie Anglican Guide
  5. ^A Table of the Movaeble Feasts, www.churchofengland.org
  6. ^Sutton, J.,What is Rogate Sunday?,Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Terre Haute,published 5 May 2018, accessed 24 September 2023
  7. ^abBurriss, Eli Edward (1928). "Some Survivals of Magic in Roman Religion".The Classical Journal.24(2). The Classical Association of the Middle West and South: 112–123.JSTOR3289524.
  8. ^Cook, Albert Stanburrough (1926). "Augustine's Journey from Rome to Richborough".Speculum.1(4): 375–397.doi:10.2307/2847160.JSTOR2847160.S2CID162451684.
  9. ^Shepherd, John (1801).A critical and practical elucidation of the Book of common prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church.Oxford University.
  10. ^abHouseman, Michael (1998)."Painful Places: Ritual Encounters with One's Homelands"(PDF).The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.4(3): 447–467.doi:10.2307/3034156.JSTOR3034156.
  11. ^Brand, Ellis & Hazlitt 1905.
  12. ^abLiszka, Thomas R. (2002). "The Dragon in the" South English Legendary ": Judas, Pilate, and the" A(1) "Redaction".Modern Philology.100(1): 50–59.doi:10.1086/493149.JSTOR1215582.S2CID161491639.
  13. ^Pearson, Charles Buchanan (1878)."Some Account of Ancient Churchwarden Accounts of St. Michael's, Bath".Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.7:309–329.doi:10.2307/3677891.JSTOR3677891.
  14. ^abcdDavenport, Edwin (1996). "Elizabethan England's Other Reformation of Manners".ELH.63(2): 255–278.doi:10.1353/elh.1996.0015.JSTOR30030221.S2CID162365937.
  15. ^Reynolds, Roger E. (2000). "The Drama of Medieval Liturgical Processions".Revue de Musicologie.86(1): 127–142.doi:10.2307/947285.JSTOR947285.
  16. ^Zika, Charles (1988). "Hosts, Processions and Pilgrimages: Controlling the Sacred in Fifteenth-Century Germany".Past & Present(118): 25–64.doi:10.1093/past/118.1.25.JSTOR650830.
  17. ^Stilgoe, John R. (1976). "Jack·o'·lanterns to Surveyors: The Secularization of Landscape Boundaries".Environmental Review.1(1). Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History: 14–16 and 18–30.doi:10.2307/3984295.JSTOR3984295.S2CID147330346.
  18. ^Hitchcock, Tim (2005)."Begging on the Streets of Eighteenth-Century London"(PDF).Journal of British Studies.44(3): 478–498.doi:10.1086/429704.hdl:2299/33.JSTOR429704.
  19. ^abMelton, J. Gordon (2011-09-13).Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations.Vol. 1. Abc-Clio. p. 749.ISBN9781598842050.
  20. ^Pope Paul VI,General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar(PDF),p. 11
  21. ^"Liturgical Calendar".Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.Retrieved2021-05-12.
  22. ^Beasley, Nicholas M. (2007). "Ritual Time in British Plantation Colonies, 1650-1780".Church History.76(3). Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History: 541–568.doi:10.1017/S0009640700500572.JSTOR27645033.S2CID164181942.
  23. ^Book of Common Prayer (Online), p.18
  24. ^"Rogation Days", The Episcopal Church

Sources

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Further reading

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  • (in Italian)Vito Pallabazzer:Lingua e cultura ladina,Belluno1985, p. 502 (about the rogation days inLadin tradition)
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