May 2012 - Ollerton with Marthall

Letter from the Vicar
May 2012
We mark Rogationtide each year- this
year we will do so on 13th May. I was
asked the other day to explain what it
is. Certainly in a rural community such
as our’s it has real significance which
previous generations would have understood.
Rogationtide comes from
the Latin verb rogare meaning to askadapted
by Christians from the Graeco-Roman
religion, where an annual
procession invoked the gods favour to
preserve the crops from mildew- traditionally
a time when Christians prayed
for God’s blessings on their crops and
other aspects of their work on the land.
The Rogation procession - which had
been suppressed at the Reformation was
restored in 1559and developed into a
procession of worship in which prayers
were said- quite often concluding with
the Mass. Rogation would have been
celebrated on the three days before the
Ascension; these days would have been
days of fasting. A service could be followed
by a visit to various places in the
neighbourhood. “The Beating of the
Bounds” service might also have been
combined with the Rogation Service,
an old custom enabling people to mark
the boundaries of their parish; often a
way for people to resolve boundary issues-
where boundaries had been violated
and situations needed to be resolved.
I lived for four years in the next parish to
where the priest and hymn writer George
Herbert ministered. He would have
been familiar with these customs and
their importance. The reasons for believing
in their importance were as follows:
“To bless God for all the fruits of the fi elds.”
“Justice in preserving the bounds.”
“Charity in loving walking, and neighbourly
accompanying one another, with reconciling of
differences at that time, if there be any.”
“Mercy in releeving the poor by the liberall
distribution of largesse which at the time is, or
ought to be used.”
(George Herbert, The Country Parson,
ch.xxxv, “The Parson’s Condescending”)
Today we may not have the same understanding
that Herbert and others had
but we have the same needs and Rogationtide
is a good time to give thanks
to God for all that we have and ask his
blessing for our land and parish. We can
pray, this Rogationtide, for all who live
and work in our Parish and the Parishes
which neighbour ours. We might pray for
those involved in the supplying our food
(those working in shops or transport,
for example). We could use it as a time
for reconciling any differences we have
with one another- as we walk together,
symbolised by sharing food and drink.
We can show our concern for those
who are in more need than we are and
need our support. Christian Aid Week
is in May; we might think of supporting
that organisation .We can remind ourselves
of all the good gifts we have been
given and be thankful to God for them.
God Bless, Lynette
Thank you
We would like to thank Terry Woods and his students in the Woodworking
Department at the David Lewis for making such a suitable cross to use on
the recent ecumenical Good Friday Procession of Witness at Chelford; it
was much appreciated by all and will be used on other occasions.
Thank you to Jane McKenna, Jenny Lea and Beryl Bailey for the most
attractive and suitable kneelers for the Church; very appropriate for this
Diamond Jubilee Year of the Queen’s Accession.