Break Open the Word

The Seventh Sunday of Easter, 1 June 2014 Acts 1:6-14 Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36 I Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11 St. John 17:1-11 From Cathedral Ridge, Woodland Park, Colorado Background:   The Ascension Aetheria, in her journal about the observances of Christian Palestine in the fourth century, mentions the vigil of this feast day.   St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom both mention the actual feast day along with other ancients following the early fifth century.   Its placement as the 40 th day in Eastertide, and preceding the Feast of Pentecost, along with other practices and observance connected with Rogation Days have confused the actual aspects of the day.   The day is universally celebrated among the churches, although in these latter days, its propers are often transferred to the following Sundays.   In the Eastern Church it is celebrated as the “Going Up”.   Many of the practices in some countries are actually those associated with the ...

The Sixth Sunday of Easter, 25 May 2014 Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:7-18 I Peter 3:13-22 St. John 14:15-21 Background: Rogation Days Although a gift from the French to the Universal Church, Rogation Days have a rather rich practice in the British Isles as well.   The days are those that precede the Feast of the Ascension.   Although there is a specific day of rogation (from the Latin – “to ask”) it is the days at the end of Easter that are most popularly followed.   It is primarily an agricultural feast, beseeching God to bless the fields and crops, and may have emerged from an earlier Roman holiday, which had similar aims.   The days were first celebrated as a Christian festival in Gaul around 470 CE, and in the seventh century were commonly celebrated throughout what is now France.   In the ninth century, the practice was introduced into the Roman Rite by Leo III.   As a fast, the vestments were purple, despite their presence during the ...