rogation
(rəʊˈgeɪʃən)
Forms: 4–6 rogacioun, 5–6 rogacion, 5 -cyon (ragacyoun), 6 -tioun, 6– rogation.
[ad. L. rogātio, -iōnis (f. rogāre to ask), whence also F. rogation (14th c.), Sp. rogacion, Pg. roga{cced}ão, It. rogazione. The pl. form used in sense 1 corresponds to med.L. Rogationes, Rogaciones, F. Rogations, Sp. Rogaciones, Pg. Roga{cced}ões, It. Rogazioni.]
1. Eccl. (Usually pl.) Solemn supplications consisting of the litany of the saints, chanted during procession on the three days before Ascension Day; hence freq., the days upon which this is done, the Rogation days. (Cf. roveison.)
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 299 Seint Mammertus..ordeyned solempne letanyes þat beeþ i-cleped þe Rogaciouns, aȝenst erþe schakynge. 1430 in Halliw. Rara Mathem. (1841) 92 Þis table tellyȝt qwen lentyn fallyth,..qwen þe Rogacyons and qwen qwytesoneday. c 1440 Astron. Cal. (MS. Ashm. 391), And so in like forme Estre, Rogacion, and Wytsonday. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 22 a/1 [The second litany] is said the letanye the lasse, the rogacions, and processions. 1547 Bk. of Marchauntes b j b, Pardons, indulgences, remissions,..rogacions,..and holy workes of God. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xli. §2 Supplications with this solemnitie for the appeasing of Gods wrath.. were of the Greeke Church termed Litanies, Rogations, of the Latine. 1604 Bk. Com. Prayer, Tables, etc., Rogations, after Easter v weekes. 1660 Jer. Taylor Ductor Dubit. iii. iv. (1676) 643 The solemn days of Rogation which we observe in the Church of England were not of an immemorial beginning. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts ii. vi. (1739) 516 The Curate..in the Days of Rogations..shall admonish the People. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. viii. 134 Mamert..first instituted the fast of Rogation. 1872 Shipley Eccl. Terms 315 The inner narthex was the place for rogations, watches, funeral rites, and sometimes baptisms. 1884 Cath. Dict. (1897) 794/1 The Rogations began in the kingdom of Burgundy. |
| attrib. 1660 Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. iii. iv. xiii. §23 The Rogation fast (all the World knows) was instituted by Mammercus Bishop of Vienna. 1812 J. Brady Clavis Cal. I. 338 Leaving..the object of Mumertus's alteration in the Rogation ceremony undecided. 1872 Shipley Eccl. Terms s.v. Rogational, Antiphons used at Rogation-tide, or in connexion with litanies. |
b. Rogation days, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding Ascension Day. (
Cf. gang-days.)
Rogation week, the week in which Ascension Day falls. (
Cf. gang-week.)
Rogation Sunday, the fifth Sunday after Easter, being the Sunday before Ascension Day.
| (a) c 1400 Harl. MS. 2247 lf. 105 b, Euery man..shulde faste Monday, Tewsday & Wednesday, and go in procession; for þei be called Rogacion dayes of prayer. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. (1520) v. 58 b/1 In his tyme were the Rogacyon dayes ordeyned. 1503 in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. (1902) 152 So was it..ether yn the Rogacion dayes or a litill befor. 1563 Foxe A. & M. 476 b, I wold..that you would but once search and set out the first origin of these Rogation days. 1611 Cotgr., Rogations, Rogation dayes, the Rogation weeke. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, call'd Rogations, or Rogation Days. 1812 J. Brady Clavis Cal. I. 335 So early as the year 550, Claudius Mumertus..extended the object of the Rogation days. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 696/1 The three days before Ascension..are still known in the English Church as Rogation Days. |
| (b) 1530 Palsgr. 263/2 Rogation weke, la sepmaine des rouaisons. 1535 Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) I. 27 The 4th day of May followinge, being Tewsday in the Rogation week. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe 30 Lent might be cleane spung'd out of the Kalender, with Rogation weeks. 1634 Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 123 The observation of Gangdays, or rogation week, is wholly popish. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. ii. 186 You that do, as if it were in Rogation week, perambulate the Bounds of government. 1725 Bourne in Brand Pop. Antiq. (1777) xxvi. 264 The Litanies or Rogations, which..gave Name to the Time of Rogation-Week. 1812 J. Brady Clavis Cal. I. 336 The whole week in which these days happen is styled Rogation week. 1826 Digby Broadstone Hon. (1846) II. 364 Cross-flower, or rogation-flower,..was carried in the processions of rogation week. |
| (c) 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Tables, etc., Rogation-Sunday is Five weeks after Easter. 1681 Wharton Facts & Fest. Wks. (1683) 20 This is also called Rogation Sunday and the week following Rogation Week. 1725 Bourne in Brand Pop. Antiq. (1777) xxvi. 267 The particular Office order'd by our Church for Rogation-Sunday. 1841 R. T. Hampson Medii ævi Cal. II. 339 The 1st of the Rogations, April 26, is the first day on which Rogation Sunday can fall. 1872 Shipley Eccl. Terms, Rogation Sunday, the Sunday before Ascension day. |
c. rogation flower, the milkwort (
Polygala vulgaris), formerly made into garlands and carried in processions on Rogation days.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal 450 Milke woort..in English we may cal it Crosse flower, Gang flower, Rogation flower. 1826 Digby Broadstone Hon. (1846) II. 364 Cross-flower, or rogation-flower, [blooms] about the 3rd of May. 1890 Sarum Dioc. Gaz. Jan. 6/1 To make ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Rogation Flower’ fit guides to the search for early blossoms of Tuberous Moschatel and Milkwort. |
† d. transf. Supplication for alms; begging. Also punningly, with allusion to ‘rogue’.
Obs.| c 1540 Copland Hye Way to Spyttel Ho. 425 And so they lewter in suche rogacyons Seven or eyght yeres, walkyng theyr stacyons, And do but gull, and folow beggery. 1607 Middleton Fam. Love i. iii, Gud. How is't? methinks thou hast been a long vagrant. Lip. The rogation hath been long indeed. |
2. Rom. Antiq. The act, on the part of a consul or tribune, of submitting a proposed law to the people for their acceptance; also, a law so submitted and accepted.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 155 Graccus desirede those possessiones to be restorede to the peple in a day of Rogacion, when thynges to be restorede awede to be askede. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. xviii. (S.T.S.) II. 21 Be þis law wes gevin ane scharp brod to þe rogatioun of tribunis. a 1577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. i. vii. (1609) 7 The Emperors claime this tyrannical power by pretence of that Rogation or Plebiscitum which Caius Caesar or Octauius obtained. 1653 [F. Phillips] Consid. Crt. Chancery 2 The Romans..in the Rogation and promulgation of their Laws. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Rogatio, Frequently, also, Rogation is used in the same Sense with Law; because there never was any Law established among the Romans, but what was done by this kind of Rogation. 1774 De Lolme Constit. Eng. ii. xv. 325 The Tribunes..insisting that the Tribes should vote on their three rogations. 1853 Merivale Fall Rom. Rep. i. i. 28 Still more were they alarmed when he proposed and carried a rogation for the foundation of ample colonies. 1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 261 The era before the Rogations of Licinius became law. |
† 3. A formal request.
Obs.| 1603 Jas. I True Law Free Mon. Wks. (1616) 202 In the Parliament..the lawes are but craued by his subiects, and onely made by him at their rogation. 1647 Digges Unlawf. taking up Arms 140 Their rogation must precede His ratification. 1680 Filmer Patriarcha iii. §15 In Parliament all Statutes or Laws are made properly by the King alone, at the Rogation of the people. |
Hence
roˈgational a. (See
quot.)
| 1872 Shipley Eccl. Terms, Rogational Antiphons, antiphons used at Rogation-tide, or in connexion with litanies. |