Description:
Holy Mother Church, though radiant with the joy of Easter, spends three days before our Lord’s Ascension in a spirit of penance, and wears purple. She has done this since the early days of her existence. The word Rogation comes from the Latin “rogo,” to ask. Rogation days are set aside to appease the anger of God for the sins of the world and to draw His blessing on the fruits of the earth.
In Christian countries there used to be barefoot public processions and liturgies by clergy and faithful. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, for instance, dressed in coarse cloth, mingled among the poorest of women and walked barefooted in the processions of her time. Then, as now, the Litany of Saints was sung. In country places there used to be Rogation Day services and processions held outdoors during the public processions through the fields God’s blessing on the crops is asked.
Today the Rogation Days are celebrated in each diocese according to the instructions of the Ordinary. We may ask for the graces of these days by praying the Mass and litany the last three days before Ascension. The Litany of All Saints, which may be found in most prayerbooks, is one of the most efficacious prayers of the Church. It is used on such solemn occasions as the ordination of priests. Singing it, as the Church does, makes it a much happier prayer. When our children were younger, and even now when they are tired, we make our own Litany of the patron saints of our family and sing it in English for them.
In these days, when so many are concerned with material things, it is well for us, city and country people alike, that the Church makes us stop to realize that all we have is the gift of God, and that we must ask His blessing on the labors of those who till the soil. Rogation Days are a time for Christian fathers and mothers to develop in their children a sense of wonder and awe at the power and the goodness of our Creator. This thought is carried out in one of the old hymns of the Church which children enjoy memorizing.
Prayer:
“All we can do is worth nothing
Unless God blesses the deed;
Vainly we hope for the harvest-tide
Till God gives life to the seed;
Yet nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be
When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.”
To the regular family prayers, which we say during the Easter season, we add the following:
Head of the Family: Praise the Lord; for He is good.
Family: His mercy endures forever.
Head of the Family: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, that because of our afflictions we may rely on Thy goodness, and with Thy protection may be defended against all adversities.
Family: And I say to you; ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. Alleluia.
THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS:
Lord, have mercy on us.
CHRIST, have mercy on us.
LORD, have mercy on us.
CHRIST, hear us.
CHRIST, graciously hear us.
GOD, THE FATHER OF HEAVEN, have mercy on us.
GOD THE SON, REDEEMER OF THE WORLD, have mercy on us.
GOD THE HOLY GHOST, have mercy on us.
HOLY TRINITY, ONE GOD, have mercy on us.
HOLY MARY, pray for us.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, pray for us.
HOLY VIRGIN OF VIRGINS, pray for us.
ST. MICHAEL, pray for us.
ST. GABRIEL, pray for us.
ST. RAPHAEL, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY ORDERS OF BLESSED SPIRITS, pray for us.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, pray for us. ST. JOSEPH, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, pray for us.
ST. PETER, pray for us.
ST. PAUL, pray for us.
ST. ANDREW, pray for us.
ST. JAMES, pray for us.
ST. JOHN, pray for us.
ST. THOMAS, pray for us.
ST. JAMES, pray for us.
ST. PHILIP, pray for us.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW, pray for us.
ST. MATTHEW, pray for us.
ST. SIMON, pray for us.
ST. THADDEUS, pray for us.
ST. BARNABAS, pray for us.
ST. LUKE, pray for us.
ST. MARK, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY APOSTLES AND EVANGELIST, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY DISCIPLES OF OUR LORD, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY INNOCENTS, pray for us.
ST. STEPHEN, pray for us.
ST. LAWRENCE, pray for us.
ST. VINCENT, pray for us.
SS. FABIAN AND SEBASTIAN, pray for us.
SS. JOHN AND PAUL, pray for us.
SS. COSMOS AND DAMIAN, pray for us.
SS. GERVASE AND PROTASE, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY MARTYRS, pray for us.
ST. SYLVESTER, pray for us.
ST. GREGORY, pray for us.
ST. AMBROSE, pray for us.
ST. AUGUSTINE, pray for us.
ST. JEROME, pray for us.
ST. MARTIN, pray for us.
ST. NICHOLAS, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY BISHOPS AND CONFESSORS, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY DOCTORS, pray for us.
ST. ANTHONY, pray for us.
ST. BENEDICT, pray for us.
ST. BERNARD, pray for us.
ST. DOMINIC, pray for us.
ST. FRANCIS, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY PRIEST AND LEVITES, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY MONKS AND HERMITS, pray for us.
ST. MARY MAGDALEN, pray for us.
ST. AGATHA, pray for us.
ST. LUCY, pray for us.
ST. AGNES, pray for us.
ST. CECILIA, pray for us.
ST. CATHERINE, pray for us.
ST. ANASTASIA, pray for us.
ALL YE HOLY VIRGINS AND WIDOWS, pray for us.
ALL YE MEN AND WOMEN, SAINTS OF GOD, make intercession for us.
BE MERCIFUL, spare us, O Lord!
BE MERCIFUL, graciously hear us, O Lord!
FROM ALL EVIL, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM ALL SIN, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM THY WRATH, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM A SUDDEN AND UNPROVIDED DEATH, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM THE DECEITS OF THE DEVIL, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM ANGER, HATRED, AND ALL ILL WILL, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM THE SPIRIT OF FORNICATION, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM LIGHTNING AND TEMPEST, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM THE SCOURGE OF EARTHQUAKE, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM PESTILENCE, FAMINE, AND WAR, O Lord, deliver us.
FROM EVERLASTING DEATH, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THE MYSTERY OF THY HOLY INCARNATION, O Lord, Deliver us.
THROUGH THY COMING, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THY NATIVITY, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THY BAPTISM AND HOLY FASTING, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THY CROSS AND PASSION, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THY DEATH AND BURIAL, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THY HOLY RESURRECTION, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THINE ADMIRABLE ASCENSION, O Lord, deliver us.
THROUGH THE COMING OF THE HOLY GHOST, THE PARACLETE, O Lord, deliver us.
IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, We Sinners beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST SPARE US, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST PARDON US, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO BRING US TO TRUE PENANCE, We Beseech Thee hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO GOVERN AND PRESERVE THY HOLY CHURCH…. We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO PRESERVE OUR APOSTOLIC PRELATE AND ALL ECCLESIASTICAL ORDERS IN HOLY RELIGION. We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO HUMBLE THE ENEMIES OF THY HOLY CHURCH, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCH SAFE TO GIVE PEACE AND TRUE CONCORD TO CHRISTIAN KINGS AND PRINCES, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO GRANT PEACE AND UNITY TO ALL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO BRING BACK TO THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH ALL THOSE WHO HAVE STRAYED AWAY, AND LEAD TO THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL ALL UNBELIEVERS, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO CONFIRM AND PRESERVE US THY HOLY SERVICE, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST LIFT UP OUR MINDS TO HEAVENLY DESIRES, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST RENDER ETERNAL BLESSINGS TO ALL OUR BENEFACTORS, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST DELIVER OUR SOULS AND THOSE OF OUR BRETHREN, RELATIVE, AND BENEFACTORS FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO GIVE AND PRESERVE THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE TO GIVE ETERNAL REST TO ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED, We beseech Thee, hear us.
THAT THOU WOULDST VOUCHSAFE GRACIOUSLY TO HEAR US, We beseech Thee, hear us.
SON OF GOD, We beseech Thee, hear us.
LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKEST AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD, Spare us, O Lord.
LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKEST AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKEST AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD, Have mercy on us.
CHRIST, HEAR US…….
CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US…….
LORD, HAVE MERCY ON US…….
CHRIST, HAVE MERCY ON US…….
LORD, HAVE MERCY ON US…….
Our Father, etc, (In Secret.)
V- And Lead Us Not Into Temptation.
R- But Deliver Us From Evil.