Hewitt's History Files

But how many people noticed it? Not as many as used to, I would hazard.

Encyclopedias will tell you that rogation is 'a term most frequently encountered in Roman Catholic and Anglican circles, is rarely used today'.

All of which makes George Parker's photograph of a Rogation Sunday Procession in Billingshurst in the early 1960's fascinating.

The image shows the procession arriving at The Cedars when his aunt and uncle, Mary and Jan Pawlowski, lived there. In the background can be seen one of the stumps of the two great cedar trees that gave the house its name and were blown down in a storm in the late 1920's.

The word rogation comes from the Latin verb rogare, meaning to ask and was applied to this time of the liturgical year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage 'Ask and ye shall receive." (John 16:24)

The faithful typically observed the Rogation Days by fasting in preparation to celebrate the Ascension and farmers often had their crfops blessed by a priest.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette May 23