Ascension Day and a happy providence

 During our Morning Prayers today one of the Psalms we happened to read as part of our regular rotation was Psalm 41, which has this passage:

9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

In John 13:18, Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9 referring to Judas, who will betray him. But the heel image comes from Genesis 3:

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

So Judas’s betrayal of Jesus is a demonic parody of Christ’s victory over Satan, but in spite of what looks like a victory for the few days Christ is in the tomb, the enemy cannot triumph over him.

Today is Ascension Day. For forty days after his resurrection Christ appeared in the flesh to his disciples, and then, as the Apostles’ Creed says, “He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”

O Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ
ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things:
Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his
promise, he abideth with his Church on earth, even unto the
end of the ages; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in
glory everlasting. Amen.

Rogationtide: Traditional prayers

 

Planting tip: Blackberries don't bloom till after your last frost

Last week I wrote about the season; today I want to share some traditional prayers for the Rogation days, which are today, tomorrow, and Wednesday—that is, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday between the Sixth Sunday of Easter and Ascension Day (40 days after Easter).

The following collects are from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, but they can also be found in the 2017 ACNA prayer book. [When used as a noun, “collect” is pronounced /COL-lect/.]

In our daily morning prayers, after the Lord’s Prayer we pray the collect for the previous Sunday followed by other prayers according to the season or specific prayer needs of our loved ones. During the Rogation days, after the collect of the day, we pray a different Rogation collect each day.


Sixth Sunday of Easter

O God, who hast prepared for those who love thee such
good things as pass man’s understanding:  Pour into our
hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee in all
things and above all things, may obtain thy promises, which
exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever.  Amen.



For Rogation Days
For use on the traditional days or at other times

I. For fruitful seasons

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth:  We humbly pray
that thy gracious providence may give and preserve to our
use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper
all who labor to gather them, that we, who constantly receive
good things from thy hand, may always give thee thanks;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

II. For commerce and industry

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life
shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with
thy people where they work; make those who carry on
the industries and commerce of this land responsive to thy
will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just
return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

III. For stewardship of creation

O merciful Creator, whose hand is open wide to satisfy the
needs of every living creature: Make us, we beseech thee,
ever thankful for thy loving providence; and grant that we,
remembering the account that we must one day give, may be
faithful stewards of thy bounty; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Rogationtide: Praying for mercy and for fruitful seasons

 

Everything is burgeoning! The dogwoods, irises, and peonies have finished blooming, but the clematis and pinks are going wild and the lavender shooting out bloom stalks. I love this time of year.

My youngest daughter has started two bed in a sunny spot in our back yard that are modelled after the traditional “three sisters” way of planting. First she planted corn and sunflowers. Now that they’re coming up nicely she’s going to plant beans, which will twine up the stalks of the taller plants, then in a few weeks she’ll plant squashes, which will flourish on the ground below the other plants.

This coming Sunday will be the sixth Sunday of the Easter season. Up until fairly recently the Gospel reading for this Sunday was John 16:23-33, which begins, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” The Latin word for ask is rogare, and so this Sunday is known in liturgical churches as “Rogation Sunday.”

One of the traditional prayers for this brief season is the prayer for fruitful seasons:

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that thy gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them that we, who constantly receive good things from thy had, may always give thee thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I have written before about some of the festive ways Christians have kept the days between Rogation Sunday and Ascension Thursday, but this week something new struck me and I wanted to mention it here.

Over the last year I’ve been dipping into Eleanor Parker’s delightful book, Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year, and last night I read her section called “Holy and Healthy Days,” which is on the origins of Rogationtide and the ways the early medieval English Christians kept this season. She mentions one of Aelfric’s sermons for Rogationtide and describes how the season was a penitential season as well as a festive one. Aelfric says that during this season, “we should pray for abundance of our earthly fruits, and for health and peace for ourselves, and, what is still greater, for the forgiveness of our sins” (pp. 157-158).

So, on the Rogation Days (the three days between Rogation Sunday and Ascension Day), the priests and parishioners would walk around the parish boundaries not only praying for fruitful seasons, but also praying for the forgiveness of their own sins and for the Lord’s mercy on their city. In his History, Bede quotes a chant from the Gallican Rogation Litany:

We pray Thee, O Lord, in all Thy mercy, that Thy wrath and anger may be turned away from this city and from Thy holy house, for we are sinners. Amen.

As Parker puts it so beautifully, “The Rogation Days seek physical and spiritual health for the individual, the community and the natural world; all are connected, one harmonious whole” (p. 162).

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For more on Aelfric’s sermon and the medieval traditions, see Eleanor Parker’s blog post at The Clerk of Oxford.

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Rogationtide, part two: Traditional prayers

To Anthea

by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Now is the time when all the lights wax dim;
And thou, Anthea, must withdraw from him
Who was thy servant: Dearest, bury me
Under that holy-oak, or gospel-tree;
Where, though thou see’st not, thou may’st think upon
Me, when thou yearly go’st procession;
Or, for mine honour, lay me in that tomb
In which thy sacred reliques shall have room;
For my embalming, Sweetest, there will be
No spices wanting, when I’m laid by thee.

The “yearly procession” in the poem is the tradition called “beating the bounds” when all the members of the parish walked around the parish boundary and prayed for good weather, for a good harvest, and for the Lord to protect the people. It was held on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the Ascension.

The Gospel reading on the previous Sunday is John 16:23-33, which begins, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” The Latin word for ask is rogare, and so this Sunday is known in liturgical churches as “Rogation Sunday,” and the next three days are called “Rogation Days.”

It’s been unseasonably dry here, so we’ve been praying for rain, and, thanks be to God, it rained most of the day today! I took this photo this evening between showers.

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer has three prayers for use during the Rogation Days. We prayed the first, For Fruitful Seasons, during Morning Prayers today, and will pray the next two on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

I. For fruitful seasons

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that thy gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we, who constantly receive good things from thy hand, may always give thee thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

II. For commerce and industry

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with thy people where they work; make those who carry on the industries and commerce of this land responsive to thy will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

III. For stewardship of creation

O merciful Creator, whose hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us, we beseech thee, ever thankful for thy loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

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I’ve blogged before about Rogation Day – here’s a post explaining Beating theBounds, and here’s one with a hymn for Rogation Sunday.

Alfred the Great

Photo credit: Odejea
Wikimedia Commons

 "O God, who didst call thy servant Alfred to an earthly throne that he might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst give him zeal for thy church and love for thy people: Grant that we, inspired by his example and prayers, may remain steadfast in the work thou hast given us to do for the building up of thy reign of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

 On this day in the year of our Lord 899, Alfred King of the Anglo-Saxons passed into glory. He was a good man -- a poet, a scholar, a warrior, a lawgiver, and above all a devout Christian.

This month I've been reading aloud on Zoom G.K. Chesterton's magnificent Ballad of the White Horse, which is about Alfred's fight against the pagan invaders. Here's the link to the read-aloud on YouTube, if you'd like to listen. I've read it aloud to my kids nearly every October for over a decade and they've all graduated and I'm having my Morning Time alone these days, so that's why I decided to read the Ballad on Zoom. I'm glad I did -- it was a lot of fun. You know, I didn't even think about mentioning it here ahead of time!

You can read more about Alfred at this Lectionary page. It includes the Collect I've quoted above, plus Scripture readings for the day, and brief history of Alfred. 

This article from the University of Oxford has more information, including excerpts from some of his writings.

And here's an interesting article from a few years ago about the coin known as the Alfred coin

Enjoy!

 

Canonical hours and The Tempest

The Tempest is so interesting. It’s the only one of Shakespeare’s plays where he invented the plot instead of using one from history, myth, or romance. Instead, it’s inspired by tales of ancient voyages, like Aeneid and Jason and the Argonauts, but also by contemporary accounts of voyages to the New World. The characters are based on stock characters from the popular improv theater commedia dell’arte, only the story isn’t improv because Prospero is directing the whole thing. 

Also, it’s one of only two where Shakespeare observes the Aristotelian unities of time and place, which means that the time it takes to act the story on stage is the same as the amount of time that passes for the characters within the story.

In Act 1, scene 2, we meet Ariel for the first time when Prospero calls to him to come and give a report of the work he’s done that day, carrying out Prospero’s orders regarding the storm and bringing the ship’s passengers to land. Ariel has been having a great time doing all that, and gives an animated account of the storm, the wreck, and the passengers’ behavior.

But then Propsero mentions the time -- it’s almost three p.m. -- and says, “The time ’twixt six and now / Must by us both be spent most preciously.” In other words, there’s more work to be done.

Three p.m. is the canonical hour of Nones, the ninth hour after sunrise. It’s the hour at which Jesus died on the cross. It’s the time in the afternoon when the day is drawing to a close, but your work isn’t necessarily done yet, and you’re tired. It’s the hour of temptation. Since it’s connected to death (both Jesus’ death and the approaching death of the day with its memento mori) it’s also the hour for growing in wisdom and maturity, and it’s the hour of forgiveness -- both seeking and giving.

As soon as Prospero mentions more work, Ariel becomes fractious, complaining about the work, and reminding Prospero of his promise to set him free soon. Prospero scolds Ariel, who repents and obeys quickly and enthusiastically the rest of the play.

From here on out, all the characters in this play will face trials and temptations, will be reminded of their sins, will need to seek or offer forgiveness.

Miranda may be the one exception to that -- I’ll need to be watching her as I read the rest of the play with my class.

The Lord's Prayer in Old English

My fifteen year old daughter is reading Beowulf now with Angelina's excellent Great Books II class, so just for fun she and I watched Benjamin Bagby's wonderful performance of the first third of the poem, in Old English, with a harp.

And that inspired me to brush up my pronunciation of the Lord's Prayer in Old English in order to share with y'all, only the recording I first learned it from was taken down from the internet a decade ago, and I don't really like any of the recordings I've found on YouTube, and the online written pronunciation guides are just confusing me.  So I decided to post this anyway before I chickened out.  My apologies if you're an Anglo-Saxon scholar and know how this is supposed to sound. 

Kelly Cumbee · The Lord's Prayer in Old English

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
si þin nama gehalgod
tobecume þin rice
gewurþe þin willa
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfele.
Soþlice. 

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Shelfie

The Poetry shelf, which contains maybe 2/3 of my collection
There's more in the school room, and in my bedroom,
and on the table by my rocking chair, and . . .

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BCP: Morning Prayers, Thanksgiving 2011

I can’t believe it’s only a little over two weeks till Thanksgiving! I was born on Thanksgiving and it’s my favorite holiday. Isn’t that wonderful? I feel like Tootie in “Meet me in St. Louis,” who felt so lucky to have been born in her favorite city. ;-)

I like to have a huge, extravagant meal, enough to feed the whole family for the whole weekend. And we like to have a long morning prayer time before dinner, with songs and Scripture readings, and giving thanks for everything in the world.

To make things easier, I print out a missal (that’s a booklet that contains everything needed for the service) and make booklets of the hymns and canticles we’ll be using, so there are no disctractions created by flipping pages in the prayer book, Bible, and hymnal. I always try to print them out the day before so the younger children can decorate them.

Here are a few covers from last year’s missals:

And here are a few from 2008 before I had my long-arm stapler. That stapler saves a lot of time, but I think the yarn ties are prettier.

Here’s the missal we’ll be using this month. It’s mostly taken from the 1928 BCP, but the 1979 has some several appropriate prayers that I’ve included. The titles of the hymns and canticles we’ll be using are listed, but not the words, so it should be pretty easy for you to edit if you’d like to use it for your own family.

Click link below to view document