This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will observe the Rite of Rogations in lieu of the usual evening Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Confessions will be from 5.15pm-5.40pm.
Rogation comes from the Latin verb ‘rogare’ – to ask or to pray. The rogations are held on the three days prior to the Feast of the Ascension. Celebrated in violet, the priest first goes to the altar in cope, kneels down and intones an antiphon from Psalm 43 ‘Exsurge Domine’ (Arise O Lord). The clergy and faithful then sing the Litany of Saints while going in procession.
In many places, the procession made its way around the borders of a parish and was often joined to the blessing of farmers’ fields in rural locations. Upon returning to the altar, the clergy sing Psalm 69 and the priest then recites a series of petitionary prayers. The processions are then immediately followed by a Mass in violet – its readings instruct the faithful in particular on the power of prayer.