Rogation Sunday/ Rogationtide

by Anne Linington⁽¹⁸⁷⁾ Red Star

http://Faithwriters.com

Rogation Sunday/ Rogationtide

One of several festivals in the Church year which celebrates the Agricultural cycle:

Plough Sunday- Second Sunday of Epiphany

Rogation - Sixth Sunday of Easter

Lammastide : August celebration of the first of the wheat harvest

Harvest itself- end of Sept/ beginning of October.

More recently we have services remembering God's gift of Creation and our responsibility in terms of ecological balance.

When our country was much more closely agriculturally based, people acknowledged their dependence on God and sought his blessing on the crops- for their survival.

Because of my own agricultural backgound-

coming from Devon..

my father and Uncle were in Farming,

and Russell being an agricultural engineer,

I instinctively notice the changing seasons and what is happening in the fields. So I am glad to be leading this evening's service.

Rogation comes from “Rogare” the Latin for “To ask”

Taken over from earlier Graeco-Roman feast including a procession asking the gods to protect the crops.

Began in Vienne, France in 470 after a series of disasters.

Originally it was celebrated on the three days before Ascension ie. Mon, Tues, Wed of this week. Originally these were days of fasting.

More recently observed as Rogation Sunday - sixth Sunday of Easter cycle/ season

The Church moved this on to processing the boundaries of the Parish. Beating the bounds is still done in some rural communities. Perhaps one year we could walk the Parish boundaries where possible, praying for all that lies within it, and for those Parishes which neighbour ours.

More recently it has been adapted for our increasingly urban society, to include the world of work, responsible stewardship of all God's gifts.

Today we acknowledge God the Creator as the source of every good gift and our responsibility to share that blessing with those less fortunate- as Christian Aid week reminds us.

As I looked at the fields this week, I found myself grieving for those that are “set aside”- good agricultural land that farmers are paid not to use under EEC policy- and I think in a world which suffers acute hunger, we need to find a way of bringing that land back into full production.

“ Beating the bounds” often involved boundary issues- where boundaries had been violated- and a need to resolve them.

At the end of the procession around the Parish boundaries- they shared an ale called “Ganging beer” and biscuits called “Rammalation biscuits” as a way of sealing their reconciliation.

George Herbert 17 th Century poet- priest and hymnist gave the following four reasons to celebrate Rogationtide:

1 To bless God for all the fruit of the fields

2 Justice in preserving the bounds

3 Charity in neighbourly accompanying one another, with a reconciling of differences if there be any

4 Mercy in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution of largesse which at that time ought to be made

What that may mean for us today:

Blessing God for all his provision for us

Praying for all who live and work within our Parish and those Parishes which neighbour ours

- perhaps praying for the Supermarkets that supply our food, the places we buy our petrol and clothing and those who produce them.

Reconciling any differences we have with one another- as we walk together, symbolised by shared food and drink

Our reading from Colossians 3:5-11:

describes the old self- the “clothing” that a Christian needs to take off, characteristics that need to be put to death.. and clothing that we need to put on:

Robert Frost in his poem “Mending wall” says that “Good fences make good neighbours ”- and the way we maintain those borders between our gardens..or between our relationships... is vitally important in the Christian Church.

Christian concern for those who have less than us, and knowing that we have the power and resources to alleviate their suffering- as through Christian Aid.

Article submitted Monday, May 10, 2010 & read 150 times.

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