About Rogation Days and Processions

Rogation days are traditionally set aside on the calendar of the Western Church, for solemn processions to celebrate God's mercy, ask blessings upon fields, gardens, orchards and seeds, and for the grace of a good and bountiful harvest.

April 28th Rogation Day is the day the U.S. Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop will visit St. Thomas the Apostle parish to bless our Community Garden, in a Rogation liturgy.

Christian honoring of Rogation Days has varied over the centuries, often involving outdoor processions on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. Elizabeth I of England ordered the “perambulation of the parish” at Rogationtide, a custom still observed in many places.

Rogation seems to be of very early date and to have been introduced as a Christian alternative to the ancient Robigalia festivals, on which the Romans held processions and supplications to the fertility godess Robiga.

Rogation Liturgy

Rogation liturgies are marked by processions around the boundaries of parishes, fields, and gardens asking God's protection and blessing on the crops that were just beginning to sprout. The Latin word rogare means "to ask", thus these were "rogation" processions.

In an agricultural society, closely connected with the soil and highly vulnerable to the uncertainties of nature, this was an idea that took root quickly, and the custom spread throughout Europe and Britain.

In some parishes, the procession took more than a day and the whole business became an occasion for several days of picnics and revels of all sorts, particularly among those who trooped along at the fringes of the religious aspects of the procession.

Beating the Bounds

One of the most unique parts of the Rogation processions was the "beating of bounds."

The route of the walk was around the boundaries of the parish, which was a civil as well as a religious unit. Thus, the processions were useful in teaching people, particularly the young, their parish boundaries.

Known as "beating the bounds," the processions customarily stopped at boundary marks and other significant landmarks of the parish, such as a venerable tree, or a great rock, or perhaps a pond.

The priest would read the Gospel and perhaps affix a cross to the landmark, as marchers beat the boundary with birch or willow wands. In a peculiar later development in the ceremony's history, boys of the parish would sometimes undergo some type of feigned punishment intended to help them remember the spot. Boys were bumped against rocks and trees, thrown into the water, held upside-down over fences, thrown into bramble patches, or swatted with willow wands--and then given a treat in compensation.

The reminder of boundaries had another important impact on communal life. In a poem by the 20th century American poet Robert Frost, the poet's neighbor asserts that "good fences make good neighbors."

Boundaries are often very important in relationships. As members of parishes beat the bounds, they would often encounter obstructions and violations of boundaries. The annual beating of the bounds provided an opportunity to resolve boundary issues.

It also led to the tradition of seeking reconciliation in personal relationships during Rogationtide. The sharing of a specially brewed ale and biscuits, at the end of the walk was a good way of sealing the reconciliation.

George Herbert gave the following good reasons to beat the bounds:

1) a blessing of God for the fruits of the field;
2) Justice in the preservation of the bounds;
3) Charitie, in living, walking and neighbourliy accompanying one another, with reconciling of differences at that time, if they be any;
4) Mercie, in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution of largess which at that time is or oght be made.

The Procession

The procession stops at various significant places to offer prayer. At each stop a blessed cross may be fixed to a landmark or set in a cultivated field as the Officiant says:

Set up your cross, O Lord, as an ensign to the people, and draw all nations to it.

A blessing appropriate to the place is then given. Incense may be offered and the place may be sprinkled with holy water. If a priest or bishop is not present, these prayers may be said by a layperson, adding the words in brackets. The people may also take blessed crosses and holy water to their homes and use these same prayers for the hallowing of gardens and farms that are not visited by the parish procession.

Blessing of Gardens
O God, who has given each one of us the opportunity to share in the cultivation of the land: Give us also such skill and patience in digging and sowing and planting that fruit and vegetables and flowers may sustain our bodies and gladden our hearts by their usefulness and beauty. [We ask you to] Bless with a healthy and plentiful crop this garden. Endow with skill and endurance those who work here, giving them rich yields and an assured livelihood; in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

References:

• The Consortium of Country Churches
• A sermon by J. Barrington Bates
• Bucks Buckinghamshire Archaeological Record