ROGATIONTIDE

 A MESSAGE FOR ROGATION SUNDAY

Nature can be a terrible thing at times. We’re reminded of this during powerful weather events like tornadoes and floods, as well as other natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires and tsunamis.  We are currently enduring a global pandemic which is afflicting literally millions of people in one way or another.  At times like these, when we find ourselves at the mercy of the elements or events that we are powerless to control, we turn to God, conscious of our own human frailty, our need for divine assistance, and most especially the importance of forgiveness for our many sins.

 

In the early Church, when the faith of the population was far stronger than it is today, this reliance on God to avert catastrophe was given much greater emphasis.  The Rogation Days were created after a series of calamities that afflicted Rome and France, and have endured to the present day, despite the power of technology and the cynicism of the modern world.  The word “rogation” comes from the Latin verb rogare, which means “to ask.” Literally, the Rogation Days are the “asking days,” when the Church formerly fasted and prayed for forgiveness for sins. But where did these days come from?

 

The first Rogation day (known as the Greater Litanies) takes place on April 25th every year. It was instituted by Pope St. Gregory the Great in the 6th century after Rome was afflicted by a plague during the Easter season.  It was assumed at the time that the plague was a punishment for the people’s extreme gluttony in which they indulged after the hardships of Lent. The symptoms of the plague were severe: people would drop dead in the streets, and sometimes they would die after sneezing. The custom of saying “God bless you” after we hear someone sneeze dates from this time. To avert the plague, Pope St. Gregory the Great set up a liturgy for April 25th that involved a procession and the litany of the saints. People were called upon to fast and abstain and violet vestments were worn. Eventually, however, another set of similar Rogation Days were added to the calendar, and it is this period of Rogationtide which begins today.

 

These Rogation Days, known as the Minor Litanies, fall on the three days preceding Ascension Thursday. They were also instituted in the sixth century, but unlike the Greater Litanies, they originated in Vienne, France, where they were instituted by the bishop of the diocese, St. Mamertus, after a series of extraordinary natural disasters.  The first disasters were earthquakes that decimated homes and churches.  These were followed by a fire that came down from the sky and engulfed the King’s palace in flames. The last and strangest of these disasters was an attack by wild wolves on towns and cities! St. Mamertus called upon the people to fast for three days and had a special litany said, and the disasters stopped.  Pope St. Leo III extended the observance of the Minor Rogation days to the universal calendar of the Church, as a prayer for God’s blessings and a reminder of the terrible power of nature.  People would fast and abstain from meat, walking in procession as the Litany of the Saints was chanted.  In farming communities, the procession would go out to the fields, where the priest would bless the new crops and ask for God’s blessing for a bountiful harvest.