Last weekend many of our rural parishes marked Rogation with services and events.
Rogation is an ancient church festival to seek blessing for a community and its sustenance. The word rogation comes from the Latin verb rogare, meaning "to ask", which reflects the beseeching of God for protection from calamities. As the Book of Common Prayer puts it: “Rogation Days are the three days preceding Ascension Day, especially devoted to asking for God’s blessing on agriculture and industry.” They are generally marked by churches on the Sunday before Ascension Day.
In Clifton, just south of Worcester, the congregation gathered in the Barn at New House Farm thanks to the hospitality of Ann and Sheila who have hosted a rogation service for a number of years. Area Dean of Worcester, Diane Cooksey led the service and said:
“We planted seeds and walked (some got a farming style lift!) up to the field of Spring Oats to bless them as well as the land. Afterwards we had hotdogs and coffee back in the barn.”
Gary Crellin, Vicar of the Old Hills Malvern Benefice and Rural Mission Enabler for the Diocese also marked the festival in his parishes and wrote:
“Rogation is a time to think of the natural world, and to reflect on the way human selfishness, greed, and war, are affecting this. We are blessed with some of the most beautiful and productive land in our parishes and across the Diocese - from the arable and dairy herds in the south and west Worcestershire to the Fruit Bowl of England (and asparagus fields currently very much in season) around the east of the county (the Vale of Evesham) and in Malvern and just over the border into Herefordshire, there are cider and fruit apple trees in blossom and poly tunnels are in place for strawberries and other soft fruit.
Let us pause and give thanks for our farmers and our food producers - in our backyard or all over this world. Let us try to start anew to remedy the mistakes we have made in the environment in which we live and are ultimately dependent upon.”
Lord God,
we thank You for our world, for its beauty and complexity, for its colour and intricacy, and for birds, animals, and humans. We ask Your forgiveness for our mistakes, our wilful blindness, and the way we do little to improve the current situation even when we can see the dangers. Help us to seek Your help, to make changes to our way of life, and become eco-warriors. Amen.
