Rogation Days return once again!
This Sunday, 17 May 2020, All Saints’ Carmel will celebrate this tradition in an all-new way. In a prerecorded service, our clergy and musicians will process about the grounds in prayer on behalf of all of our parishioners and our community of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
From our Episcopal Dictionary of the Church describes these as the three days before Ascension Day on which the litany is sung (or recited) in procession as an act of intercession.
Rogation Days 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 Book of Common Prayer (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, which means “asking.”This is our Earth Day and it is a joy to celebrate, to remember the incredible gifts we have received from our Creator God, and to ask for continued blessing and healing for our Island Home.
We hope you will join us virtually this Sunday and watch “in community” at our regular 10:30 a.m. service time.
Watch the Service. [The link will go LIVE the morning of 17 May.]