Rogation Day

The Tradition of Rogation Days

May 23, 2022 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: 05 May, Rogation Day Leave a Comment

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week are Rogation Days in anticipation of Ascension Thursday.

Below are directions from Fr. Sullivan, OSB, 1952 and a few blessings from the traditional Roman Ritual.

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If our Holy Mother the Church seems to multiply her blessings over the farm home, and have few left for the city apartment, it is not because she is partial to her children in the country and forgetful of city children, but because she is a realist—like every woman. She knows that from the farm homes comes the world’s food supply.

That is why she has composed so many sacramental blessings for the farmer. That is why she has instituted the rogation days, the three days before the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord.

But these rogation prayers and the sacramental blessings for the farmer are not for the exclusive welfare of the country people; such blessings are for the welfare of all the members of Christ’s Body on earth—for those who live in little towns and big towns—for the rosy cheeked country urchin who has the wide open fields for a playground, and for the pale little girls whose backyard is closed in by smokestacks and ugly unpainted buildings—for the farmer plowing in his field in the bright sun, and for the subway guard who seldom sees the light of day. For all members of Our Lord’s Body are dependent on one another.

If the farmer is blessed with a good harvest, the city dweller has plenty of good food; if the city dweller makes a living wage, he can buy the farmer’s food. It is this universal dependence of the members of Christ’s Body on one another that makes the blessing of the farmer a blessing also for the dwellers in the city apartments.

It is faith that traces the origin of good food beyond the corner grocery store to the wholesale dealer to the shipper—beyond the shipper to the farmers whose job it is to produce food, and beyond the farmer to God the Creator Who gives the increase to the harvest.

So it is fitting for the man or woman in the city cathedral as well as the farmer in the little rural church to pray together on rogation days: “That Thou wouldst please to give and preserve the fruits of the earth…we beseech Thee hear us.”

The litany of the Saints and the psalms sung during procession on rogation days are supplications—hence the word, rogation (from the word rogare which means to ask). During this season the faithful ask God to protect them from danger and disaster, and to bless especially the harvest so that the whole of Christ’s Body may be fed.

The rogation days are also called the days of the minor litanies, because according to the rubric of the ritual, it is customary for the pastor and his flock to go in procession through the fields of the parish changing the litany of the Saints and other prayers. There is another solemn procession through the fields on the 25th of April which is called the major litanies. This also happens to be St. Mark’s day, but there is no connection between the Evangelist’s feast and the procession.

Because most of our modern parishes are in the city and small town, and have no fields through which to march, the rogation day procession usually takes place on the parish property, or even inside the parish church itself; here at St. Meinrad’s the student-body together with the people of the parish march in solemn procession to the chapel of Our Lady of Monte Cassino a mile through the village and across the valley, chanting the litany of the Saints. There the Mass of rogation is offered by the priest in charge of the abbey farm.

The celebration of the minor and major litanies are only four days during the year when the Church solemnly asks blessings upon the harvest, but besides the rogation day blessings there are numerous sacramentals in the Roman ritual which may be used with spiritual profit by the faithful especially by the folks who live on the farm. Here are some the principal blessings which the Christian farmer may use.

Living the Liturgical Rhythm and More

June 2, 2013 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Field Trip, Liturgucal Rhythm, Rogation Day Leave a Comment

We seek to fully immerse our family into the rich traditions of our Catholic faith, including traditional devotions. We desire our family to live a life that intimately follows the liturgical rhythm, centered on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We pray to foster a Catholic Culture so that we are able to grow in wisdom, love, and service to Jesus Christ -– aiding in the restoration of Christendom. ad Jesum per Mariam

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Praise God for the graces to attend Rogation Day Mass and Procession with the littles, without Dad and Rose. Dad and Rose were on a college visit.

Rogation days are an opportunity for us to partake in recollection, prayer, and penance.

We enjoyed a blessed day with our Lord and our parish community, celebrating Mass and a traditional devotion.

The day ended with a tour of the dairy farm.

Deo gratias!

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Rogation Day ~ To Petition Earnestly

May 8, 2013 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: 05 May, Procession, Rogation Day Leave a Comment

“Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you”. ~John 16:23

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The Rogation Days consist of plaintive litanies to God and the saints chanted while the faithful proceed through town and country and the priest blesses their land and property. These processions*, which are penitential in character, end with Mass.

There are two sets of Rogation Days. The first, called the “Major” or “Greater” Litanies, is celebrated on April 25th. The second, called the “Minor” or “Lesser” Litanies, is celebrated on the three days immediately preceding Ascension Thursday.

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Why do we go around the fields in processions? To beg God to bless the fields with His fatherly hand, to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, and as He fills the animals with blessings, and gives them food at the proper time, so may He give to as also our necessary food. ~Instruction Concerning the Procession of Rogation Days, Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine’s The Church’s Year

With what intentions should we take part in a procession? With the intention of glorifying God, of thanking Him for all. His graces, and of obtaining aid and comfort from Him in all our corporal and spiritual needs; with the view of professing our faith openly before the whole world, and with the sincere resolution of always following Christ, the Crucified, in the path of penance and mortification. He who entertains other intentions and takes part, perhaps, for temporal advantages, or for sinful pleasures, or to avoid labor, sins against God and the Church who weeps over and condemns such abuses. ~Instruction Concerning the Procession of Rogation Days, Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine’s The Church’s Year

Favorably receive our prayers, O Lord, we beseech Thee; may we in our distress be consoled by Thy gifts and grow in love accordingly. Through our Lord . . .

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Resources:

Litany of Saints Download ~ Sanctus Simplicitus
Instruction Concerning the Procession of Rogation Days ~ Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine’s The Church’s Year
Rogation Days – Extraordinary Form (Tridentine) ~ St. John Cantius Parish
The Greater and Lesser Rogation Days ~ St. John Cantius Parish
The Liturgical Year – Paschal Time Vol. III ~ By: Dom Gueranger Imprimatur 1927 via Sanctus Simplicitus
Rogation Day – 2012 ~ JOYfilledfamily
Rogation Day – 2011 ~ JOYfilledfamily
Rogation Day – 2010 ~ JOYfilledfamily

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*Processions are a figure of our pilgrimage on earth; we are strangers and wanderers here below, our journey reaches from this valley of tears to the heavenly Sion, the procession therefore returns into the house of God; our journey leads over the thorny ways of life, the procession therefore takes place in the open air, where the pilgrim is exposed to all kinds of weather; they are a powerful incentive to fervor in prayer for the faithful; when hundreds, even thousands of faithful praise God aloud, or cry to Him for help and mercy, must not even the coldest heart be roused to vivid, fervent devotion, since Christ has promised to be present even where two or three are assembled in His name? Processions are an open acknowledgment that praise, thanks and adoration are due to God alone, while they are a public profession of our faith in Christ, the Crucified; they are a solemn thanksgiving for being permitted to profess Christ, our Lord, before the whole world, as also for all the graces obtained through Him; they are a public testimonial of our faith in the one, holy, Catholic Church, whose members are united by the same bond of faith, and who form under their head, Christ, one family in God. Finally, they are a sign of the triumph of Christian faith over the darkness of heathenism. If processions are solemnized with such intentions, with order and dignity, with fervent devotion, in the light of faith, they are indeed a pleasing sight for angels and men. ~Instruction Concerning the Procession of Rogation Days, Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine’s The Church’s Year

Rogation Day

May 15, 2012 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: 05 May, Rogation Day

Commemoration of the MASS OF ROGATION

The death and resurrection of Jesus have opened heaven and won the grace to avoid sin and to gain eternal happiness. But many of the consequences of sin still remain; and every person has his guilt to confess and atone for. Besides, there are the countless needs of soul and body that put all men on their knees before God. Earthquakes and other calamities afflicted Europe in the fifth century and St. Mamertus, instituted a penitential procession with public supplications in his Diocese. Hence, the special days of petition, called Rogation Days, marked by a special Mass, the Litany of the Saints, and, where possible, a procession during which the Litany is sung. It is well to join penance and fasting to all prayer. In 816 A.D., Pope Leo III introduced this Mass in Rome, and soon after it became a general observance throughout the Church.

Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who in our affliction put our trust in Thy mercy, may ever be defended by the protection against all adversity. Through our Lord . . .

May these oblations, O Lord, we beseech Thee, loosen the bonds of our wickedness, and obtain for us the gifts of Thy mercy. Through our Lord . . .

Favorably receive our prayers, O Lord, we beseech Thee; may we in our distress be consoled by Thy gifts and grow in love accordingly. Through our Lord . . .

We beg Thee, God to bless the fields with Thy fatherly hand, to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, and as Thou fill the animals with blessings, and give them food at the proper time, so may Thee give to us also our necessary food.

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Resources: