EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume One, Number Four March/April 1992 ROGATIONTIDE: WHAT HAPPENED TO IT? IT BECAME SOIL AND WATER STEWARDSHIP WEEK. For many centuries the fifth Sunday after Easter and the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, known as Rogationtide (Latin rogare, to beseech), have been associated with planting crops, and praying for bountiful harvest. The Church continues this tradition of offering special petitions for forgiveness of sins, for protection from calamities, and for bountiful crops. It all began in a disaster occurring in the middle of the fifth century in France when the city and countryside of Vienne were devastated by earthquakes, fire, crop failures, hunger, rioting and looting. The Bishop of Vienne, Mamertus, called for three days of prayer and penance which included a solemn procession with litanies around the bounds of the city. Word of what happened in Vienne spread throughout Europe where churches established the annual practice of rogation days to focus on planting and petitions for good harvests. The observance was marked by an outdoor procession through fields and farms, the "beating of the bounds" of the parish boundaries with festive rejoicing and blessing of the fields. Early in this century in USA, a few church congregations began to set aside the fifth Sunday after Easter as Soil and Soul Sunday. In 1946 when the publishers of Farm and Ranch magazine promoted the observance, the name was changed to Soil Stewardship Sunday. The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), representing 3000 local soil and water conservation districts, in 1955 took on national sponsorship of the observance, celebrated now as Soil and Water Stewardship Week between the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May. The calamitous situation out of which rogation days arose has similarities to conditions in many parts of our world -- unemployment, underemployment, hunger and homelessness. Rogationtide can speak to our planetary disasters. An Order of Service for Rogationtide, prepared by Philip H. Pfatteicher, can be obtained from the Division for Congregational Life, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 8765 W. Higgins Rd. , Chicago, IL 60631. Suggestions for a non-sectarian liturgy are included in the Soil and Water Stewardship packet, from NACD, 408 East Main, League City, TX 77573 (1-800-825-5547). Home     Table of Contents