Department of Ancient Classics | Conference programme
In 1969 following the reforms introduced by the second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church replaced the celebration of 'Rogation Days' with prayers to be said at any time of the year. These prayers are for the needs of mankind, their labour, and the fruits of the earth.1 Despite these changes the essence of the prayers still manage to convey the original function of the Rogation days when they were first instituted by Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne in c. AD 470. Just as this tradition has been maintained throughout the Roman Catholic Church for over 1,500 years, I intend to show how the celebration of the 'Rogation Days' were themselves an adaptation in Gaul of the classical Roman feast of Ambarvalia. I shall then proceed to illustrate, through several examples, how the Minor Rogation Days developed in England up to the present-day. In doing so it will become apparent that the content of the prayers, which contemporary Roman Catholics offer for the needs of mankind, their labour, and the fruits of the earth, reflect a tradition extending back over 2,500 years. From the outset of this paper I am aware of the somewhat fervent attempts which have been made in the past to trace the survival of pagan beliefs in Christianity.2 With this in mind I will begin by examining the origins of the Christian Rogation Days.
Before 1969 Roman Catholics celebrated the Rogations days on two different occasions in the liturgical year. The so-called 'Major Rogation day' was celebrated on 25 April, while the 'Minor Rogation Days' were usually held on the three days which preceded Ascension Thursday. The latter was a moveable feast and was generally observed between the end of May and start of June. Both feasts are sometimes referred to as the 'Great' and 'Lesser Litanies' respectively. Nevertheless, the various names by which these feasts are known, reveal their very nature. 'Rogation' comes from the Latin rogare (to ask), while 'litany' comes from the Greek litaneia (to pray). A modern definition of 'litany' provides us with details, which manage to convey the very nature of these feast-days. Thus the Oxford English Dictionary defines a litany as "An appointed form of public prayer, usually of a penitential character, consisting of a series of supplications, deprecations, or intercessions in which the clergy lead and the people respond . . . A litany may be used either as part of a service or by itself, in the latter case often in procession."3 Thus processions, supplicatory prayers and public worship are key components of these feasts. The festival of Ambarvalia celebrated during the classical Roman period contains a number of similarities to those of Christian Minor Rogation Days.
A tenth-century manuscript from Corbie (18296 Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, Folio 81) contains a sermon on the feast of Candlemas and Minor Rogation Days. The anonymous author informs us that the Minor Rogation Days are derived from the pagan ceremony of Arvambale. He states that "We imitate [with] solemnity . . . these very same rogations, proceeding around our fields, not so much to make them fertile, as for other necessities of soul and body."4 In another tenth century manuscript it is stipulated that the Minor Rogation Days were also to be observed by three days of fasting.5 Furthermore, as a part of the ceremonies relics were carried in the procession. Prayers were also offered " . . . for sinners, for peace, for plague [and] . . . for the preservation of crops."6
The classical feast of Ambarvalia was celebrated as an official feast, usually during the month of May since the foundation of the republic in Rome. The ceremony, as the tenth-century anonymous author from Corbie has already informed us, involved a procession around the cultivated lands of the city where prayers were said and a sacrifice was made in order to ensure the success of its crops. The name of the festival is a compound derived from the adjective amb, going round, and arvum, the fields. The word is a rarity in surviving classical material. References to the festival are found in the writings of Strabo (c. 64 BC - AD 24), Festus (c. late second century AD), and in Macrobius' (c. AD 400) Saturnalia.7 Private Ambarvalia ceremonies in which elements very similar to those performed during the public festival are recorded in the writings of Cato (234-149 BC), Virgil (70-19 BC) and Tibullus (48-19 BC).8 Therefore, from a very early period in Roman literature we have various recorded testimonies which bear witness to the continuance of the Ambarvarlia ceremony over prolonged period.
Strabo was such a witness to a ceremony celebrated in Rome during the reign of Augustus (31 BC- AD 14), which he refers to as Ambarvia. The ceremony and accompanying sacrifice were held by the pontifices, probably the Arval Brethren (from arvalis: an arable field or corn field) at a place called Festi.9 The same ceremonies and sacrifices were enacted at a number of other locations regarded as boundaries. By the time of Augustine's reign it had become impossible to physically circumambulate the ever-increasing boundaries around Rome, and thus the ceremonies and sacrifices were made at certain circumscribed locations.10
At the sacred grove on Via Campana, the festival of Dea Dia was also celebrated by the Arval Brethren, and although this feast was movable, its customary date was 29 May. This was the most crucial month for the crops in Rome, and thus purification ceremonies, or lustrations were performed so as to guarantee a healthy harvest. Because of the similarities between this festival and that of Ambarvalia, it has been suggested that these were one and the same festivals.11 In the famous Carmen arvale recited during the festival of Dea Dia, the Lares (gods of the soil), Semones (god of seed and abundance) and Mars are petitioned in order to protect the land and harvest.12 Furthermore, records concerning Dea Dia show that she shared characteristics similar to those of Ceres (the greatly revered corn-goddess). However, the hymn contains no direct reference to Dea Dia, and Mars is the dominant deity invoked. Here Mars is portrayed as a of defender of crops, called upon to do battle against all the unseen evil forces which threaten the harvest. The cry of e nos Marmor iuuato triumpe triumpe trium[pe tri]umpe by the Arval Brethren at the end of the hymn reinforces both the combative and defensive character of Mars.13 Cato, in a ritual to be performed during a private Ambarvalia ceremony proposes a prayer to be recited, in which Mars is invoked in similar terms to that found in the hymn of the Arval Brethren. The prayer calls on Mars to combat demons which threaten the crops. "[H]alt, repulse, and cast out the visible and invisible maladies, dearth and desolation, calamities and inclemencies . . . in order that thou may allow the products, wheat, vines, and young shoots, to increase and arrive at a favorable outcome . . . ."14
As I have already mentioned above, during the Ambarvalia festival, (which was processional in nature) fields were circumambulated and purified though lustrations. The word lustration is derived from the Latin verb lustrum: to purify by means of a propitiatory offering in order to ensure that all evil was excluded from within the circle which had been circumambulated.15 The lustration ceremony had no doubt been observed since the origins of Rome, whereby the boundary of the cultivated land was marked off from that of the wilderness, the sacred from the profane. This boundary-line was itself eventually to become sacred, marked by a procession, prayers and sacrifice, usually in May, for during this period crops were vulnerable to disease and had to be protected. It is probable that the classical Roman festival of the Ambarvalia was imported to Gaul during its occupation by Rome. This in turn was adapted by Marmertus, Bishop of Vienne in c. AD 470, and key elements from the Ambarvalia festival were incorporated into the ceremonies of the Minor Rogation Days.16
Since 121 BC the citizens of Vienne had been subjected to Roman rule when the kingdom of the Allobroges was annexed by Rome. An intense process of Romanisation of the province followed, and while there were several rebellions against Roman control, Vienne generally profited from its occupation, reaching its height of prosperity during the second century. By then it was regarded as being second only to Trier in its importance throughout the whole of the Gallo-Roman region. The earliest evidence we have of a small Christian community in Vienne dates from AD 177. In this year, the Christian community suffered persecution under Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-80).17 However, at this stage Vienne, due to its location and status was a cross-roads for the importation of a number of eastern cults.18 The overwhelming religious influence remained that which was promulgated by Roman state.
The influence of Roman religion throughout Gaul can be seen in the example of the priesthood of Rome and Augustus. This priesthood was unique in that the priests had a number of subaltern officials who were probably responsible for taking care of the more mundane priestly duties. This implies that there existed a pan-Gallic network of priests, and illustrates just how deep and widespread organised Roman religion had penetrated into Gaul.
The relative peace enjoyed throughout Gaul by the end of the fourth century was shattered by the massive invasion of the Barbarians on New Year's Eve AD 406. It is probable that the Burgundians were also part of this invasion. By the middle of the century, through an alliance with the Visigoths their territory had greatly expanded whereby under the rule of Gundiok, the Burgundian kingdom in AD 470 extended throughout most of south-eastern Gaul. Just six years before the collapse of Roman rule in Gaul in AD 476, the Burgundians were beginning to exhibit heretical leanings towards Arianism because of their contacts with the Visigoths. However, due to Rome's long association with Gaul, the Burgundians were still by AD 470 cautiously aware of violating the, by then, traditional practices amongst Catholic bishops in these Romanised cities. Therefore, opposition to orthodox Catholicism could only be openly expressed after AD 476.19
Hence, during the traditional year associated with the establishment of the Minor Rogation Days, Vienne had witnessed decades of rapid change. The earliest extant account of the Minor Rogation Days is found in a letter of Sidonius Apollinaris (c. AD 423 - c.480), who in AD 469 was elected Bishop of Clermont in South-central Gaul. In this letter addressed to his friend Aper in AD 472-73, Apollinaris emphasises the public penitential nature associated with the Minor Rogation day ceremonies.20 Additionally Avitus, Bishop of Vienne from c. AD 490, provides us with further information with regards the circumstances which led to the institution of the Minor Rogation Days by Mamertus. Convinced that the earthquakes and fires which threatened the city of Vienne had been caused by his sinning flock, Avitus tells us that Mamertus led his people in procession, observing fasts, chanting psalms, offering supplicatory prayers and alms. Moreover, Avitus furnishes us with details with regards the duration of the fasting, which Mamertus stipulated should last for three days.21 An awareness of the importance of the agrarian nature of the Ambarvalia festival provided Marmetus with an opportunity to synchronise long-established agricultural cycles with that of the newly-evolving liturgical year.22 Both the agrarian and liturgical cycles were, using Van Dam's terminology, characterised by their concepts of "death and decay, resurrection and rebirth."23 The significance of the feast of the Ascension for Christians would have been reinforced in the minds of those relatively newly-converted orthodox Gaulish Christians who lived according to the rhythms of the seasons. The processions, fasting, prayers and supplications offered to God during the three days leading up to Ascension-day would, according to Mamertus' reasoned calculation, have usually coincided with the late spring harvest. Furthermore, due to the threat from various heresies, the apparent success of Mamertus' Minor Rogation Days ceremonies in quelling the various disasters which visited Vienne may have served to illustrate the approval given by God to those who followed Rome-sanctioned doctrine.
Shortly afterwards, following Mamertus' example, Apollinaris established the ceremony in his church at Clermont. The first Council of Orleans in AD 511 stipulated that the Minor Rogation Days were to be instituted throughout Gaul. The Minor Rogation Days were established outside of France through the Councils of Girone (AD 517), Braga (AD 572), and Toledo (AD 636). Pope Leo III (AD 795-816), during a trip to France, may have been sufficiently impressed with the ceremony of the Minor Rogation Days as to introduce it into the Roman liturgy upon his return to the eternal city on 29 November AD 799.24 Therefore, we can see how far the celebration of the Minor Rogation Days had spread within a relatively short period. I now wish to briefly examine how the Minor Rogation Days were possibly imported into England, and how these subsequently developed.
The establishment and development of Christianity within Roman Britain was from the beginning influenced by its proximity to Gaul. There are indications that the Romano-British Christian community at this time was small in size and concentrated in the south-east. The great English historian Venerable Bede (c. AD 673-735) has written of the existence of a church outside Canterbury, which was according to him was constructed during the Roman occupation. The building was eventually appropriated by Queen Bertha and was probably dedicated to the highly venerated Saint Martin of Tours (AD 316/35-397), patron saint of France by her Frankish chaplain Liudhard (d. c. AD 602.25
The earliest surviving accounts of a ceremony which recalls those of the Minor Rogation Days comes from Iona, a small island on the north-west coast of Scotland. This account, recorded by Adomnán, a member of the Ionian community, in his Life of Saint Columba (AD 692-7), describes how when a drought during late Spring threatened to destroy recently planted grass seeds, a ritual was enacted by clerics in order to remedy the situation. Elements contained within Adomnán's account are similar to those found in the Minor Rogation Days ceremonies. For instance, the elders decided to carry around the fields handbooks which were written in Columba's own hand, and a white tunic worn by him on his deathbed. They raised and shook his tunic three times in the air, opened his books and read from them causing rain to fall.26
By the eighth century the Minor Rogation Days were well established in England. Cuthbert, in his account of Bede's death says that he and his brethren broke off from Bede's company on the Wednesday before the Ascension in order to take part in the procession of the relics of the saints according to the custom.27 Attempts were also made at a relatively early date to regulate the observance of both the Major and Minor Rogation Days in England. For instance Canon sixteen of the Council of Clofesho (AD 747) stipulated that these feast-days should be celebrated on 25 April28 and three days before the Ascension respectively.29 The esteem with which the Minor Rogation Days were held is seen by the fact that one of King Alfred's (AD 849-99) laws considered that a crime committed on one of these days was equivalent to one committed on a Sunday or on a higher Church feast-day.30 During the late Anglo-Saxon period the Minor Rogation Days were referred to as 'Gang-days', derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb 'to go' or 'to walk'. Thus, the processional nature of the Minor Rogations days is evoked through the use of this term. The earliest use of such a term in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles is found in an entry for the year AD 913.31 During the Elizabethan era the celebration of the Minor Rogation Days continued. However, by then the ceremonies had become part of the parochial processional tradition. As part of the ceremonies boys were beaten at the boundaries of a parish, which were circumambulated during these processions. This apparently served the purpose of impressing in their minds the extent of the territory of their parish.32 Fowler, describes a custom known as "Beating the Bounds" which was still being observed at Oxford in 1899. This took place on one of the three days before Ascension-day. Quoting from Brand, Fowler provides us with a description of such a custom:
It was a general custom formerly and is still observed in some country parishes, to go round the bounds and limits of the parish on one of the three days before Ascension-day; when the Minister, accompanied by his Churchwardens and Parishioners, was wont to deprecate the vengeance of God, beg a blessing on the fruits of the earth, and preserve the rights and properties of the parish.33
In this paper I have endeavoured to illustrate how an agrarian festival which was celebrated from the Republican era in Rome onwards, was successfully adapted and incorporated into the Christian liturgical calendar during the late fifth century AD. Mamertus, aware of the respect held in the Romanised areas of Gaul for ancient Roman traditions seized upon the opportunity to harmonise the rhythms of an essentially agricultural community with those of the newer community of Christians. In doing so the Bishop of Vienne in c. AD 470 ensured that elements from a ceremony celebrated in classical Rome would be still be observed some two and a half millennia later.
Department of Ancient Classics | Conference programme