These are the rogation days, and the prayer book collect is thus:
ALMIGHTY God, Lord of heaven and earth; We beseech thee to pour forth thy blessing upon this land, and to give us a fruitful season; that we, constantly receiving thy bounty, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Right now this is a most personal prayer for me. Our orchard has partly come into bloom due to last weeks warm weather and there is danger of frost tonight. A bad frost will mean few or no apples this year.
However, we do not live on apples alone. The cool weather and rain has helped the strawberries and raspberries we transplanted. Until the rain the other day things were a little dry. The cooler weather is easier on the Cows (No flies and no need bother the girls with fly spray). The grass is growing well for hay and pasture. The Lord will provide.
2 comments:
Ran across your site when I was looking for information. I'm preaching on Rogation Sunday, and wanted to illustrate what the observance has meant--that it is the spring counterpart to the autumn harvest festival. If you don't mind, I might use your post just as it is, for a group of mostly elderly urban Californians who scarely remember seasons since we really have such mild winters here.
Please feel free to use it.
Post a Comment