Vigil of the Ascension; Rogation Wednesday: Missa “Vocem iucunditátis”
This station at the Vatican Basilica on the last day of the Rogations was instituted out of veneration for the tomb of the Apostle, and in order to assimilate as far as possible the lesser litanies to the greater ones of April 25 which ended at the Basilica of St. Peter. The Litany of the Saints is a jewel of ancient prayer; in its present form it dates from the Tenth Century. The names of the saints are the glory of the Church; the thought of them fills us with hope. The procession and Mass followed the same order as an April 25.
The third day of the Rogation Days is the Vigil of the Ascension. In churches where the procession of the Rogations has already been done, the following Mass is celebrated with commemoration of the Rogation Days (Collect, Secret and Postcommunion) of the Mass of the Fifth Sunday After Easter.
“Rogation” comes from the Latin “rogare,” which means “to ask,” and “Rogation Days” are days during which we seek to ask God’s mercy, appease His anger, avert His chastisements manifest through natural disasters, and ask for His blessings, particularly with regard to farming, gardening, and other agricultural pursuits. They are set aside to remind us how radically dependent we are on Mother Earth, and how prayer can help protect us from nature’s often cruel ways. The four days are April 25, which is called the Major Rogation; and the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, which are called the Minor Rogations. Traditionally, on these days, the congregation marches the boundaries of the parish, blessing every tree and stone, while chanting or reciting a Litany of Mercy, usually a Litany of the Saints.
INTROIT Isaias 60: 20
Declare it with the voice of joy, and make it known, alleluia: declare it even to the ends of the earth: The Lord hath delivered His people, alleluia, alleluia.-(Ps. 65: 1,2) Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to His Name: give glory to His praise. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat Declare it with the voice…
COLLECT
O God, from Whom all good things do come, grant unto us, Thy suppliant people, that by Thine inspiration, we may think what is right, and under Thy guidance perform the same. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
Commemoration of Rogation Days
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who in our affliction trust in Thy loving kindness, may by Thy protection ever be defended against all adversities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
EPISTLE James 1: 22-27
Lesson from the first Epistle of Blessed James the Apostle. Dearly beloved, Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass: for he beheld himself and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein. not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed, And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
ALLELUIA
Alleluia, alleluia. V. Christ is risen, and hath shone upon us, whom He redeemed with His Blood. Alleluia. V. (John 16: 28) I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again I leave the world and I go to the Father. Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 16: 23-30
At that time Jesus saith to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in My Name, He will give it to you. Hitherto you have not asked any thing in my name: Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but I will show you plainly of the Father. In that day you shall ask in My Name; and I say not to you that I will ask the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father and am come into the world; again I leave the world and I go to the Father.” His disciples say to Him: Behold, now Thou speakest plainly and speakest no proverb. Now we know that Thou knowest all things and Thou needest not that any man should ask of Thee: by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God.
OFFERTORY Psalm 65: 8, 9, 26
O bless the Lord our God, ye peoples, and make the voice of His praise to be heard: Who hath set my soul to live, and hath not suffered my feet to be moved. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me, alleluia.
SECRET
Accept, O Lord, the prayers of Thy faithful, together with the gifts they offer: that by these offices of loving devotion we may enter into heavenly glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
Commemoration of Rogation Days
May these offerings, we beseech Thee, O Lord, both loose the bonds of our sinful dispositions and win for us the gifts of Thy mercy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
PREFACE of Easter
It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation that at all times, but more
especially at this season we should extol Thy glory, O Lord, when Christ our Pasch was sacrificed. For He is the true Lamb that hath taken away the sins of the world. Who by dying hath overcome our death, and by rising again hath restored our life. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Domina-tions, and with all the heavenly hosts, we sing a hymn to Thy glory, saying without ceasing: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…
COMMUNION Psalm 92: 2
Sing unto the Lord, alleluia; sing unto the Lord, and bless His Name; show forth His salvation from day to day, alleluia, alleluia.
POSTCOMMUNION
Grant to us, O Lord, that filled with strength from this heavenly table, we may both desire what is right, and obtain that which we desire. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoration of Rogation Days
Let Thy kind favor, O Lord, follow our petitions, that, receiving Thy gifts in our tribulation, we may be consoled and increase in Thy love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R. Amen.
The Brighton Oratory 
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