Rogation Days
Tomorrow is the Sixth Sunday of Easter but it is often known as Rogation Sunday because we are about to have several Rogation days in the lead up to Ascension Day on Thursday.
We are coming to the climax of Easter when Jesus, having risen on Easter Day, now ascends to heaven thus ending his earthly appearances.
Rogation is a time when we ask a blessing for the crops or trace out the parish boundary by beating its bounds.
The two ceremonies are often combined.
At Southwell Minster the 10.30am Rogationtide Service is followed by the traditional procession across countryside to Brackenhurst where the agricultural college kindly hosts a light lunch.
At Mudeford on Sunday afternoon 3pm the church congregation, local people and visitors will stand on the quay and watch a priest from the parish church take to the water and pray for a good fish harvest.
Mudeford is on the Dorset/Hampshire border and at the entrance to Christchurch Harbour where salmon are caught.
But next Thursday clergy and school children from All Hallows-by-the-Tower take to the River Thames as part of beating the bounds.