NB: I posted this in my Facebook garden group a few minutes ago, and decided to cross-post it here.
It was around 8:05 AM yesterday when I had just finished croaking out the last chorus of In The Garden, a classic old gospel hymn, and I had stowed the guitar in the corner of the room. The kindly gray pastor stood up before the small congregation, announced that it was “Rogation Sunday”, and asked if anyone knew what that was. I suggested that maybe it had something to do with the patron saint of hair loss. He and the rest of the congregants laughed heartily.
Fortunately, these people share my deep and twisted sense of humor.
My choice of opening song was an apt, happy accident (truth be told, I chose it because it’s easy to play and sing, and my partner and I didn’t have a chance to rehearse last week). The Christian Rogation Day emerged, in part, from the ancient pagan Roman tradition of Robigalia. In their original forms, both traditions involve a kind of parade -- the people of the village marched, seeking favor from their god(s) for the new growing season.
For Romans, this involved animal sacrifice and... well, who knows, as I wasn’t there, and don’t understand their religious customs. But the purpose & intent were adopted in the early Christian world. In England, the parish would “beat the bounds”, meaning to march around the perimeter of the parish -- again, seeking the blessing of god for the new growing season.
This desire to seek blessing on the new season is a deep and abiding cultural instinct. For ancient civilizations like the Romans and Christianized Europe, this was not a simple matter of custom and pretty flowers at the local garden center. It was life and death. Serious business.
I opine on Rogation on this beautiful Monday morning in May for a couple reasons. First, to let you know that I’m not above blurting out a bad joke in church. Hey, life is about taking risks. Fortunately, that one landed <wipes sweat from forehead>. Second, today is a momentous day in our local lives, as tonight should be the last cold night of the spring, and, thus, yes, <long drumroll> the portal to warm weather planting season!!! Yes, it’s here! It is time to plant! I will likely be waiting until Friday for various reasons. But if you feel flexible and so led tomorrow, you can plant away.
Just not today. Think of today as your personal Rogation Day, within whatever faith tradition, or lack thereof, that guides you -- if nothing else, we can all agree that gratitude is never a bad thing. For me, the privilege of leading a small group of people in a hymn as simple and beautiful as In The Garden was the requisite transcendent experience and petition. I can’t define your Rogation Day for you. But as we embark together on another wild adventure in backyard horticulture, I do think it is good and fitting to engage in a moment of gratitude for what we enjoy in this community.
Best wishes to all for a productive and blessed growing season.