Holidays: Rogation Days

(via Richard on AnamTuras)

Rogation Days are the three days before Ascension Day which occurs 40 days after Easter (always on a Thursday). Rogationtide is the collective word for these days of special prayers for the crops. Rogationtide is more than likely a Christian adaptation of similar pagan devotional practices. It has been common in some places for processions to take place in the fields whilst chanting the Litany of the Saints and sprinkling the Spring planting with holy water. This practice has fallen into disuse in modern times and the days are sort of lumped together on the preceeding Sunday (Rogation Sunday in some faith communities). This hymn is sung in many places on Rogation Sunday.
 
O Jesus, crowned with all renown,
Since thou the earth hast trod,
Thou reignest, and by thee come down
Henceforth the gifts of God.
Thine is the health
And thine the wealth
That in our halls abound,
And thine the beauty and the joy
With which the years are crowned.
 
Lord, in their cha[r]ge, let frost and heat,
And winds and dews be giv'n;
All fost'ring power, and influence sweet,
Breathe from the bounteous heav'n.
Attemper fair
With gentle air
The sunshine and the rain,
That kindly earth
With timely birth
May yield her fruits again:
 
That we may feed the poor aright,
And, gath'ring round thy throne,
Here, in the holy angels' sight,
Repay thee of thine own:
That we may praise thee all our days,
And with the Father's Name,
And with the Holy Spirit's gifts,
The Saviour's love proclaim.
..... Edward White Benson, 1860